intersections...

5.18:
tick tock tick...
blue square, white square, blue square, white,
blue, white, brick.
shadows to the left, shadows to the right...
i look up and see a 4-year old wobbling along, blond hair flying...one hand holding her mother's index finger tightly and the free one making patterns in the air...and i can't help but smile...that seems to throw her off a bit...she wobbles some more, dangerously to one side until her mother steadies her...and then she grins back! :) yay! and then they walk past...
back to counting bricks...what's that tune in my head?...brick, white, brick, white, brick...black?
i look up this time to see an unfamiliar face, new to the 5.28er's scene...hmm...
blast!!!! screech and hiss!!!!...drat that train!...well at least it's on time...
brick, white, brick, brick, gate...the cherry blossoms have gone...the trees look lovely still...about turn.
ah! 'take me the way i am...' :) how wonderful it is to remember that melody drifting about elusively in your head and pin it to the words that went with it...
bells and whistles...
more screeches and hisses...
there comes the northbound...have a nice evening ya'll...
brick, brick, brick, yellow...and up...
her eyes look steady but she seems to be staring at something far far away...what a lovely embroidered jacket....it must be from india....she turns momentarily, startling me from my half-reverie, half question and we both avert our gazes quickly...it's the song's fault, else i wouldn't have walked staring and grinning...brick, white, blue, blue, blue...ah! the breeze....
there comes K....
running back from Safeway...as she does everyday...
getting a thrill out of making a dash for the stores in her 12-minute wait...watching her huff and puff and then break out in a victorious grin with her thumbs up at me makes me smile again...and i smilingly turn and this time her eyes bore into my face, intense at first and then relaxing to an open, curious and yet somewhat tentative look! i do understand what that little girl felt like now...my smile just widened and directed itself straight at her...
blast!!!! drat...how come it always always gives me a jolt, the silly train!...and just before i turn to walk back a few paces to get my usual coach, she smiles back, with relief, glad to have not been the one to grin (stupidly?) first, a hint of dismay? for the conversation that almost began...
5.55:
finally...cal ave!...i like the blue blue of the fountain...like i like it everyday...the froth and the bubbles, the little ripples that are in constant formation...the hills in the distance...i heave a sigh of satisfaction...doggyyy!!!...wait..let me cross over to the other side...me in peace and you with more wag room...
what a lovely embroidered jacket...wait!! it's the same lady...so she gets off here eh...how funny our paths should cross again... just as she turned to look my way before crossing herself, i had started to walk again...
there's a sale at k&s...wonder what cameras they have on....and by the time i pick up my brisk pace and look around...she's gone and with it the conversation...another time then! another day...
...
5.59:
a little late...
it doesn't matter, cal ave. at last...there's my blue fountain...and the hills in the distance...what a day it has been...two ladies, probably in their late 50s walk by, one talking animatedly and the other nodding vigorously..."it's just that feeling, you know?"... :) yes, i know....i see the flickering man on the traffic lights...but i don't feel like hurrying...not today...i will wait for the next one...apparently the fellow walking in beat to the music in his headphones felt the same way...and we smile...yes, it's not worth it...there's music to be heard and the walk savored...what's that tune?...hmm...it will come to me...the car to my left inches out slowly, creeping out in front of us, lest we decide to walk first?...oh! don't worry, there's music to be heard and the walk unhurried...crossing the road i think..there comes the rotten broccoli junction...an ungodly stench, why won't they do something about it?...but the roses ahead are lovely...freakishly large, but lovely all the same...all these leaves on the street...they will be red soon in fall....shadows of a jogger...ah! it's from 'rhythm'...what imagery the lyrics have...shaking my head at its beauty i look up...and stare right into the face of the jogger...and a smile breaks out! i know this face...have our paths crossed before? i frowned a little in confusion, smiling still...and she smiles back broadly :) yay! why it's the lady of the embroidered jacket!..well, you have a good evening dear...now where did i leave that song?....suddenly her footsteps stop and she turns around "we've met", she says...there is no one else on the road...it must be me...i turn around....and smile again, yes, we have..."at the train station?"..."yes! that's right"....and so begins the conversation...she lived here on college terrace...a wonderful location...i most decidedly agree...they've moved now, not far, but not on c.t.,...they would love to move back..."we wanted to stay close to..."...oh? i wonder...of course it makes sense to me...but why to her...her son needs the therapy...no! why children? my heart goes out to you, it does..."but he's much better now" she says....thank god! :)....now that her family is away briefly she can catch up on her jogging!...what fun! :)..."yes, that must be nice in a way", i comment...hmm...gosh! i could just jog if i so pleased...it must be a stolen pleasure for her, the poor dear...a wonderful melody..."...many children do you have?"...da di dum....what?!...there must be an appropriate response to this...the last time i was asked for my id at a table that was being served with drinks...i have never been asked this...i must've managed an intelligible response, because she smiled...we had been smiling the whole while...it's a most pleasant feeling, i must say....i must listen to that song tonight..." we must meet at the library!"....my eyes grow wide, did i miss more of that sentence again?!!..."yes, that would be lovely, i go there often"...she smiles...apparently not..."yes, it would be nice to meet again"..."yes, it will be P"....and we went on our ways...
:)...
what a smile can do...of strangers friends make....