Happy New Year!
The New Year arrived and rolled in thick fog to accompany my morning walk.
My first stop was to check for Gus the old beaver of Crystal Springs. A few mornings earlier, I'd watched him glide through two daffy ducks and right into his tiny lodge made of grass, reeds and a downed tree. It was quite the Oregon marvel and I relished every moment of it.
Gus wasn't around. I might never see him again! Such is the joy of seeing something wild in nature.
My next stop was to stock one of the street libraries in the neighborhood. I keep finding unexpected treasures in these places and recently discovered the novels of Sally Rooney.
Everything around me was suffused with gray, Outdoor holiday lights and decorations twinkled and glowed in the gauze. If you've never seen holiday lights muted by the fog at dawn, let me assure you—it is something wonderful to behold, much more interesting than on a midnight clear.
I was latching the door to the library when I saw an older bearded man zigzagging toward me down the street on a kids' bicycle. He bore the unmistakable appearance of a homeless person and I learned by constant observation that many, if not all, homeless man or woman ride their bicycles in similar zigzagging fashion whether they are loaded up with bags of cans or bottles or towing can-bottle conveyance contraptions.
Often these people ride with no hands. Many have music playing on their phones.
This rider had instrumental heavy metal going. He saw me and waved. I wished him “Happy New Year!” and he said, smiling, “Happy New Year to you, brother!”
I watched him ride away in the fog and under a canopy of lights strung across the street through oaks and maples. The last I saw of him was the blinking red light at the rear of his bicycle and it instantly occurred to me this was the most beautiful sight I had seen all holiday season.