A big, cool wind was blowing keeping the temperature down. One day of heat and I already know that I don't miss it all that much, which is strange for a guy whose first 23 years of life were in a hot and humid part of peninsular India.
"That's a good hat for a day like this" commented a middle-aged woman about my hat.
She was outfitted in the appropriate walking gear that included a visor-cap on her head. I think of that kind of visor cap, which is essentially only to keep the glare away, as a practical American solution even if not really all that fashionable. ;)
I was wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, which keeps the glare away, and protects my bald(ing) head. The hat was so inexpensive that I do not understand how they make money selling it. It is made with pure straw, except for the sweatband inside. It was manufactured in China. It is sold through a hipster outfit in Brooklyn, NY. It was delivered to my home in a huge cardboard box because of the shape of the wide-brimmed hat. Yet, it cost me next to nothing.
Even though I dealt with economic geography throughout my career, that I cannot explain! ;)
"How you doin'?" I asked as I proceeded on my walk.
"Great. Am waiting for my walking buddy. I think she is waiting in the other parking place."
"Have a good one."
Of course a woman has a walking buddy. Hear me out; it is more than a mere gender difference. It is not about how women are chatty or that men seek solitude. Nope.
I suspect that the behavior has been perfected over thousands of years. Girls, and women of any age, know enough about testosterone-filled men that they have a buddy whether it is walking for pleasure or to go to the bathroom.
It is not that all men feel safe by themselves. Need I remind you of the fate of a solo jogger or a solo birder, who both were young black men?
The only person who really feels safe when out and about is a white man. The rest of us have varying levels of feeling comfortable being alone in the woods or in the back roads, and almost always we don't engage in these by ourselves. It is not without reason that we love the sarcasm that sums it all: God, grant me the confidence of a mediocre white dude.
Soon after the former guy was elected to serve as our President, I, a brown immigrant male, began to experience angst every time I saw pickup trucks with huge flags. Or worse, with the flag of the loser in the Civil War.
Over dinner, I shared this feeling with the women around the table, and added that I might never get to places like Montana and Wyoming, or even the back roads right here in Oregon.
One of them didn't miss a beat. She said, "welcome to being a woman."
Lost in such thoughts, I overshot the mark where I had planned to turn around and head back. But, it was a good day to have walked a tad longer.
A few minutes into my return path, I saw at a distance the woman in the visor walking in the direction towards me along with another woman. Soon we were within hearing range. I knew that the American small talk would happen, and I was ready.
"There is the good hat guy again."
With the right index finger pointing to the other woman, I said "so, you finally found your walking buddy."
The other woman laughed.
We went our respective ways.
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