Saturday 14 April 2012

On my way to buy a morning paper #37

Not a day for walking to the river, and a bit bigger than a small stone, but this true tale was what I posted on Six Sentences this morning:

I’ve seen him, not quite daily, but often enough over getting on for nine years now, coming round the corner with first three then two Welsh springer spaniels.
Maybe five years ago we started to say ‘Good morning’ – no smiles and his gruffly abrupt from beneath a ragged grey moustache.
Five weeks ago when warmth retreated back to icy, he commented on the change in weather and I on his brown woolly hat, not seen through all the snow.
Since then maybe a couple more laconic comments on the day.
In today’s unpleasant northern wind and icy sleet I said it was a day to stay at home and he said he’d be required to go to Morrisons for shopping, then added  ‘and I’ve five paintings yet to finish.’
And my view of him was instantly rejigged.

4 comments:

  1. Hidden secrets behind faces - it is so easy to only see the surface. Thank you for sharing this.

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    1. Too easy - and to make mistaken judgements too. I know this but suppose there's only so much time/effort we can give to learning more about all the folk we come across. At least I've learned not to cast my first impressions in stone!

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  2. Thing is... why five? One, I can understand. But five?

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    1. Oils? Waiting for them to dry? I don't know, but you can be sure I'll talk to him some more!

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