A while back I told you about a hot man who lives in my neighborhood. I see him occasionally when we’re walking our dogs. A little while ago my dog Sparky and I were walking by his house and I thought I saw him and his dog Zeus finishing their walk. We just kept going as I assumed he was going inside. All of a sudden they were behind us, and once Sparky and I noticed them we stopped to wait. We re-re-re-introduced ourselves (I remembered his dog’s name but not his even though we’ve introduced ourselves several times before. I’m pretty bad at remembering humans’ names. I’m working on it).
We chatted while we walked. He’s a successful small business owner. He mentioned his girlfriend was in Mexico for the month (*&%$#@!$%&*). We talked about work, life, nothing major, but we learned a little about each other. Cool. At least maybe I have a friend in my ‘hood who could walk dogs with me once in a while.
We got to my house. My dog is 12 and can’t walk too far. Like an idiot I didn’t drop Sparky off and keep walking with neighborhood dude. At the least I could have used the exercise. Oh well. We both said what a pleasure it was to be able to walk and talk together. I gave him a big smile and he gave me one too. Hey, he may not always have a girlfriend.
The next evening he and Zeus were just walking out of their front door when we were walking by. He swears it was coincidence. I asked if he wanted to join us and they did. In the 4 years since I first saw him I’ve wondered how old he is. I knew he’s younger than me, but I had no idea how much. That question was answered that day when we learned we were both born at the same hospital 10 years apart. As of this writing I’m 53. That makes him 43. Ah well. Even if he didn’t have a girlfriend, 53 is old to a 43 year old. I don’t look my age, but that doesn’t really matter.
When we got to my house I again failed to keep walking with him. It’s no wonder I’m single.
We don’t run into each other very often, so as we said our good evenings I said “see you in another 6 months.” He said something like you never know, things happen for a reason. Okay, yeah I do know. He has a girlfriend. He’s too young for me. And he’s shorter than I’d like. Everything else being different, the height wouldn’t matter so much. But he’s not available. That point was made crystal clear when his girlfriend came back from Mexico a few days later and moved in with him. At least I assume she did because her vehicle is there every day now. Not like it matters.
I also told you about a man across the street from my dad’s house who was staying there to help his mother. When we met he too talked about his girlfriend. Are all the good men taken? Anyhoo, he said he’d be there a week or two. It’s been 3-4 months. I’m not sure what’s up with that. He hasn’t wandered over and even talked to me since the only time I met him, so I’m guessing that even if he’s single he’s not interested. Oh well.
About 6 weeks ago I was out with friends at a place on 4th Avenue downtown. If you’ve never been to Tucson, you don’t know how dark most of our streets are. It’s on purpose. There is a world renowned observatory southwest of the city and light pollution would be a real problem. The greater Tucson area has about a million people, but the light output of a city of around 100,000. Therefore, it’s dark.
I left the bar we were at to go to my car. As I was walking, I stepped on an unseen rock. My shoe went one way and my foot another. I knew almost instantly that it was not good. Besides the pain and almost instant swelling and bruising, I had done the exact same thing in the exact same way to the exact same foot 21 years before. I still had the walking boot I was given after the first time I fractured my foot. It’s called a Jones Fracture. It’s very common. And I’ve done it twice.
Here’s the “funny” thing about it: when I did it the first time I was separated from my 2nd husband. I asked him to drive me to Urgent Care, but he told me “if it was broken you wouldn’t be able to walk.” It was broken and I was walking. And driving a stick shift. This time the man I’ve been seeing who I met in person was helping me to my vehicle and said “if it was broken I don’t think you’d be able to walk.” It was broken and I could walk. At least I’m driving an automatic now.