July 21, 2024:
Mister Bald With Beard, folding chair in tree shade, bicycle laid on grass. In the same corner every day.
Not a great corner. Inside an elbow of street and parking lot. I wouldn't have chosen that spot. Too much asphalt. He likes it. He's there every afternoon as I take my walk.
Lately I've waved and said hey. He looks up from his phone, where he watches videos. This time I said, "You're here every day!" He smiled and laughed.
Old. Older than me, if you can believe that. Bald with long beard, a graybeard, with his high-handled bicycle and folding chair, watching videos on his phone in the shade.