Friday, December 17, 2010

stuff I saw yesterday that made me think

A very thin man with a long-ish white beard walking and pulling a small oxygen tank.  I've seen him pass by Mom & Dad's house before when I'm here with Grandpa.  Yesterday he stopped and spent some time blowing his nose and wiping his face with a few handkerchiefs or large Kleenexes.  I wondered how old he was.  What is his story?  Does he have AIDS?  Cancer?  I admired his strength and persistence in taking regular walks, especially in cold weather.

One of those big flashing traffic signs that finally explained why some stoplights had been flashing for a few days:  "TRAFFIC LIGHTS...FLASHING YELLOW...FOR STUDY."  Good, I thought, I hope they're studying the people in front of me who keep stopping at them!  Since when did Wichita become a city full of overly-cautious drivers?

On the trial cable channel, a teenage boy (the defendant? a friend of the boy who was killed?), lower lip quivering as he listened to the prosecutor give his closing argument in the murder trial, sitting directly in front of a man, head back, sleeping with his mouth open.  So near to each other, yet at that moment, so far apart.

A swan sitting in the grass along a city street between the curb and a sidewalk.

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