I Saw the Sign

It was literally my first day off work. Hell, it was a Saturday! There were a few rare hours of sunny daylight calling my name. Ooie & I decided to go for a car ride. He has recently acquired a state of the art (as far as I can tell) camera and insists on capturing everything with it.

“Wolf, you are so photo-hygienic,” he coos from behind the camera.

I giggle. "Why thank you, dear. How nice of you to notice."  I'll probably let him say it a few more times before I correct him.

That morning we decided to follow the sunshine. It led us to a riverside in Milwaukie, Oregon. 

We like to sit by water together, get to know each other better, ya know? It’s kinda our thing. We were preparing for yet another one of our uber-romantic, disgustingly sweet hand-holding session, when an older man approached us, “You got bags?”

I looked at him puzzled, “Bags? What kind of bags?”

“Trash bags. The water has been high lately and all this trash has washed up on shore. I want to pick up some of it.”

Ooie rose to the occasion. Of course he has trash bags; he is ready for anything at any moment. He hops up to the container atop his station wagon and pulls out an entire roll of trash bags.  I’m not surprised in the least. He even has gloves for me.

I liked the idea of it all, so I decided to join the stranger in his effort.

OK fine, maybe I like trash too. Finding those little bits of inorganic material among the dirt gives me a simple inexplicable pleasure.

Ooie, however was more interested in taking pictures. 

...and while I was distracted finding tiny treasures along the river's edge, he runs into an old friend. 

Metin had come to the water to feed the ducks. He collects bagels from dumpsters and brings them to the park to feed the ducks. Apparently, if you throw them in whole, the injured ducks have a better chance of getting fed as well. 

He had to be one of the kindest gentlest man I have met in a very long time. He writes poetry & prose and gave me a sample to read, "Chirps of an Angel."

It was beautiful. Inspirational. I couldn't help but feel like it was all happening for a reason. He even had a pincher to help pick up the glass. He gave it to me as a parting gift.

Is it just me or does this all seem a bit coincidental considering my upcoming/ongoing project, here? Uh...yeah, no, I didn't think so either...