Incidental/Accidental

Never underestimate or underappreciate a relaxing stroll in the rain. Forget the umbrella, get yourself a little wet, pop in the earphones and off you go. Thank goodness my minipod is still working, I had a scare for a while. Today was a good day though, Massive Attack was playing. Many things are resolved in the rain, happy thoughts, sad thoughts. Sometimes, even tears blend with raindrops, and wash away without another person knowing. But as always, the clouds part and the sun comes out again.

***********************************************************************************

As I ascended into the street, on my way back from volleyball, I caught the eye of a stranger walking on the opposite side of Harbord. I crossed the street into his pathway a few strides ahead. He had a slight limp, maybe one leg was longer than the other. The reason why I mention him is because although we did not take the same route to our respective destinations, our paths crossed several times in that short journey. Picking up the pace as I normally do, I turned south onto Huron and waited at the traffic light across from Sidney-Smith to head toward Convo Hall. As I paused to J-walk through traffic, the guy with the uneven legs pauses next to me at the same light, although I was convinced he went north on Huron. He became impatient and continued down Huron. As the traffic gaped long enough to cross, I shuffled over to the other side and also continued down Huron, veered east down a driveway and hopped over a stone gate to get to King's Circle. I couldn't cross the circle because the grass is off-limits. This put a dent into my plans of taking a short-cut to my place. I passed between buildings toward University and College entranced by trip-hop beats. When I focused again on my surroundings, I thought to myself, wouldn't that just be a coincidence if I saw that clumsy looking guy with the black umbrella again? I crossed University, eyes on my feet, and when I look up, who do I see...yes, the same guy. I am certain he recognizes me too, and that we are both thinking that it couldn't be. I was really amused at this point, but I think looked perturbed as he tucked his eyes behind his tan Columbia ball-cap. We both waited shiftily at the corner until the light turned green, and crossed east on College. This time he picked up the pace, he started to leap and waddle as he attempted to jog. That's ok, I let him go. Seeing him three times was enough serendipity. One more block until I hit Bay, and there he was again, waiting for the light to turn green to cross. He fidgeted and looked back at me. "Damn" he said in his head, or at least that's what I read in his mind. When the light changed, he walked this time, gruffily, away as I turned south down Bay, and he continued down College. I looked at him one more time, as his arms swung along his heavy-set build, puddle water splashed up the back of his khakis after each footstep, and I smiled to myself. Now that was fun.