long walk

Tuvalu was lovely this morning. Crisp, cool, quiet.

As I walked with a friend, we stopped first at Middle's school, where I dropped off a tiny bag of rubber bands for his braces, then we went on to *$, where I correctly answered the trivia question on the blackboard. (Name all 8 ingredients in a big mac.) We parted on the main street but not before she told me that someone had commented that as we walk through town all the time, we must be familiar with the cast of "characters" that inhabit Tuvalu. And so, we rattled them off:

The Serial Killer : short, 40-ish man. Wears a tweed jacket all year, horn rimmed glasses, ruddy complexion, smokes a lot and drifts between two dimly lit bars and two very bright coffee shops. Does not appear to work anywhere as has been observed lurking around at all hours. Locals have a pact wherein his home is located and searched in the event any of us goes missing.

Morbid Matilda : microscopic white haired lady between the ages of 87 and 103, widow's weeds, cataract sunglasses, black kerchief, high socks, black reeboks, walks daily from lowest harborside part of town to uppermost part of town to cemetery to maintain the gravesite of her daughter. Every day. Sometimes not in the snow.

Can collector: tall 40-ish guy. Wears jeans and tee shirts, seems to have warm clothing. Gives the impression of being homeless but isn't. Collects cans for the deposit, has a limp and slurry voice. Seems to be a good guy. Oldest tells of accidentally being locked in cemetery whilst using it as a shortcut home and being lifted out over the fence by can guy. I believe Oldest is a good teller of tales and should go into screenplays.

Bike Guy: tall 40-ish guy. Rides a bike everywhere. Not athletic. Is identifiable by mustache. Gets into fights as has been seen with a black eye more than once. Also had a broken arm for a while.

Runner with Backpack: Age hard to pin down as he's running. Wears those little running shorts with the panty built in that men shouldn't wear, very large retro looking headphones, sweatbands, bandanna (as headband? around neck?), carries two or three water bottles at all times. Has a very large backpack. Runs all day. All over town. Always.

Fancy Lady : 70's grandma with stroller. Wears a fancy church hat every day, and white gloves and heels and a pant suit, often in pastel colors. Walks with sleeping toddler for miles along a very busy road.

As for myself, and my walker friend. Smallish 40 year olds in various odd outfits. Can be seen in hats that might embarrass our children while carrying cups of expensive hot beverages and flapping our jaws - walking from upper end of town to middle of town and back around. Not often enough.