Hot Times @ the Tummy Temple

 

So it is summer. Summer is hot.

The day starts earlier to try and catch the last few breezes from the evening before the sun starts to bake.

Just like the ladies who walk their dogs with baby carriages or do their workout before the automobiles awake, I plan to greet the day early but am already sweating.

Two fuzzy faces meet me expecting breakfast and by the time I can bring out the blueberries, there are three faces. The spread seems to satisfy for the moment as I part for places known.

A big ‘home improvement’ truck starts to block my way but I’m at a time when the morning rush hour is over and I can make my way slowly, carefully and safely.

After a breakfast I see if my vertigo has changed any. Each pedal is not in a rush and maybe done out of memory. Smile at the passing jogger or nod at the new mother for I don’t wear my mask while riding.

Arriving without incident, I lock up at my favorite stop sign and prepare to enter the only air-conditioning I will experience all day.

When I’m putting on my mask (safe than sorry) some unknown guy walks up to me and says, “Can I ask you something?”

At quick glance he seemed confused or abandoned. He had no luggage or dog as the wanderer from yesterday.

I walked by and said, “No!” for it was too hot to interact with a stranger.

Once in the door, another stranger broke up a conversation about my bike and how when he was young lived on Church Hill and would ride his bike to movie row on Broad Street and just leave it on a lamppost without a lock and it was there when he came out. I relate different times and go looking for a zip cart. Don’t know how I attract these folks?

As I walked pass the giant windows I noticed the guy with the foreign accent walking by outside. We recognized each other in our own searches.

I didn’t alert the Tummy Temple team because he didn’t seem threatening, just lost.

I did my usual ventures, forgetting popcorn (bad daddy) but accumulated enough hydration for another day and with a few adjustment to the screen, satisfied the computer to spit out a receipt.

Going back to pack up the pony there were several women looking worried. One was on the phone and another showing anxiety in the direction of the man dressed in black that was back on the platform.

One woman went into the door. The other women climbed into her mobile metal monster. The man in black was walking across the parking lot.

I unlocked, strapped on my gear and checked for traffic before taking off. The man in black was at the end of the parking lot looking confused and holding his head. He started south and then turned north. Our paths will intersect.

I got to my turn and he walked past with no interaction or recognition. He seemed to be trying to figure out his next decision and I knew my way.

These types of accouters with strangers can have residual reactions.

Should the passing police car picked him up? Should I’d stopped and listened to his story? Should I have offered him money? Should I have called for assistance? Did he have a weapon?