Well we don't really know him. We don't know his name. We don't know where he lives. But we know that so long as the weather is good, he'll be out for a walk, usually with his umbrella, just in case.
Now, among our list of characters we see in the Mount, we also have Bee-Bop Girl, Angry Ex-Con, Motor Scooter Man, and Well-Dressed Old Dude, all of whom we see walking the streets of Mt. Washington.
But I think our favorite is Umbrella Man.
We saw him at Anderson Days Festival this summer, and Will threw his first frisbee right at him, unintentionally of course. Umbrella Man freaked a little and ran away.
We've seen him at the Creamy Whip, purchasing day old pastries and hearing the bakery worker say, "Don't eat 'em all on your way home now!" Umbrella Man laughed. Pretty sure they were gone before he reached the corner.
But today we saw him, dressed in his Sunday finest--suit, tie, and umbrella--and something different, too: a smile.
Umbrella Man has conversations on his walks, never with anyone in particular. Sometimes he has a Big Gulp. Usually his hands are clasped behind his back. But he never, never is smiling.
I'm not sure what brought him such joy today. We surmised that perhaps he had come from church, where he was able to fill himself up with the message of the sermon and carry it throughout his day. Then we guessed that maybe it was just Donut Day and he enjoyed a donut and some apple juice after mass.
Regardless, the pep in his step and the smile on his face brought us joy, and we hope that Umbrella Man spends the rest of the afternoon and evening as happy as we saw him this morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment