So…

More excessively loquacious “Gee, look at my alleged wisdom” blathering… Viewpoints are interesting. Dewey and I were out at ‘the tree’ at LBJ park yesterday and a young man was there standing before this magnificent Live Oak. Being, ya know, obnoxious, I started imparting my recently acquired tree knowledge to him. I then realized he hadn’t noticed the tree he was standing beneath until I mentioned it. He listened politely, glanced at the centuries’-old tree, took a quick picture with his phone and asked, “Did you say, ‘Oak tree?” Then his focus went back to his phone and he walked away staring at it admiringly. == I see quite a few ‘regulars’ while walking in parks. One couple I see often are German immigrants who are probably in their early 80’s. They are at Live Oak Park almost every morning. Today I mentioned the usual stuff you talk about if you actually stop and speak to people, which I honestly normally try to avoid, the wildlife and the weather. Normally I walk at that park in the morning shortly after sunrise, and there are very few, if any, people there besides the regulars. Sunday, after seeing how crappy the Cowboys were playing, I went close to sunset and the park was an entirely different place. It was vibrant. Kids were playing basketball, the playground was packed, people were walking, fishing, running, barbecuing. It was like Norman Rockwell designed a park. I thought it was idyllic. So I mentioned this dichotomy during my brief conversation to this couple and the woman, who is really lovely and funny so don’t judge her for this, said, “Yah! But don’t go in that other entrance in the afternoon…a bunch of gangs and thugs.” This is why I wear earbuds even when I’m not listening to something on my phone. Dewey became insistent about peeing on a distant tree, so we rapidly kept walking. I wish I could say I trained him to do that, but truthfully he’s prescient. == There was another older couple who were regular park walkers. They held hands as they walked and would stop to admire the view at regular intervals. After the initial COVID wave…they weren’t there. Then he was. The same elderly guy. He doesn’t stop to talk about the weather. I haven’t seen him admiring the view. He walks alone…looking only at memories I suspect. Viewpoints are interesting.