We took Chester to Ravenna Park yesterday, a nice long walk through the ravine filled with trees and streams and the songs winter wrens. As we started our walk, a tall young man raced off his park bench, bundled up in his fuzzy parka and big gloves the size of oven mitts.
"Hi, I'm Larry," he greeted us with a big grin and an even bigger oven-mitted peace sign.
"Good morning," I smiled back, instinctively flashing a peace sign back at him.
"Snow is predicted for Monday!" Larry danced from side to side on thick boots that climbed up his shin. The bottom of his pant legs were stuffed into his boots.
"You mean tomorrow it's supposed to snow?" I asked.
"Yes, tomorrow! Goodbye!" And with a wave of his hand he raced back to his sunny spot on the park bench. We continued on, down the ravine, and through the park on our normal route.
Chester was full of energy today only tiring as we climbed back out of the ravine about 40 minutes later. Ahead of us, I saw a couple pushing a stroller past Larry's bench. Larry was still there, rocking to the beat of some internal metronome. He saw the couple with the baby just as I did and he popped up, raced down the path, and waved his peace sign. They smiled, waved back and just kept walking.
By the time we past Larry, he was back on his bench rocking rhythmically to the rays of the winter sun. I turned to catch his eye wondering if he'd forget us and cast his weather forecast our direction. But he just smiled when he saw us, raised his peace sign and kept rocking back and forth, back and forth.
It was a beautiful day. Warm in the sun, very cold in the shade. We packed up more of the house preparing for new windows and new flooring. As the clouds moved in across the blue sky I wondered if Larry was still on his bench casting out the rhythm of his news -- Snow on Monday -- to every passerby, tossing his peace sign confidently in the air.
Was he even aware of the war in Iraq and the forgotten war in Afghanistan? Was he aware that Bush is rattling yet another saber at Iran? Did he know that Hamas was elected in the mid-east and that Israel is sharpening their sabers?
Perhaps his greatest joy in life is sitting in the sun on a frozen morning predicting weather with the wave of two fingers.
When I woke this morning, I looked for snow on the ground.
No snow today.
No peace either.
Perhaps tomorrow.
3 comments:
We could all use some Larry
from time to time -
not too much,
just a little.
I suppose some street-bought compound or other has been nibbling at the corners of his mind ... but he still has himself a social function. Nice post!
William Stafford Poem
Yeah, isn't it good? There is something about Stafford that grabs me more than Mary Oliver. I think it is that blend of religion and plainess and belief in truth and the usability of things, even poems. Once, her used my right shoulder to steady his telescope as he looked at a star. I was 36. I didn't rub any lotion or balm or any kind on my shoulder for 5 days. I think I even kissed myself on the shoulder, that bony knob, that bony girl, in those boney years.
Clear Creek Girl
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