The Time It Took
I was driving past East Dover on a photo hunt when I saw the sun just right on a house above a cliff across the water and pulled into what looked like a public place beside a picnic table. Then almost immediately a man came out of a nearby house. "Can I help you?" he says. I apologized for having intruded on what I then understood to be his property, and that got him started. He leans against the car door, with his head just tucked into the window, and begins to spin a tale. I will not attempt to recount the details. It mainly had to do with local politics. It was informative. At some point I let him know that it was particularly educational and that he should be on the radio. And all the while the light was changing. Finally I managed to interrupt the monologue and with a longing look across the water interject my feeling about the changing light. And glory be he got it and with a smile remarked he guessed he better go back in and tend to the cooking. I then got out, at last, and got the photo and headed on. But I thought about our encounter and was glad to have allowed him his story. He was a good-hearted knowledgeable person who had that in him and it had to come out. So though I squirmed and inwardly complained, I realized I had been given a gift. My year ended with the really nice gift of someone taking the time to share their thoughts with a stranger.
Next time, however, I think I will ask to get the shot first. :-)
1 January 2020
Texas Jim
East Dover, Nova Scotia
www.granitecoast.ca