Neighborly Routines

I've realized that if you walk the same route to work everyday about the same time or live in the same area for very long, you start to recognize people by their routines, habits, and quirks. For instance here are a few folks I've 'come to know.' (as in I don't really know them, but I'd probably recognize them anywhere now)

-there is 'dressed in black and walking in a hurried/angry way every morning at 8:30 am' guy. This guy walks towards town every morning around 8:30am. He is usually in all black, smoking a cigarette, and looks kinda angry with the world.

-there is 'hippie woodsman 9:30 am professor' guy. This guy looks about forty, wears jeans, a white button down shirt, a tie, a light brown suede jacket, and a floppy hiking or fishing hat. He has a beard and long wavy brown hair. He's a bit of a stroller and doesn't seem to be in a hurry or bothered by much of anything. Even in the insane summer heat of Pietermaritzburg summer yesterday he still had on his jacket.

-there is also 'big smiling Indian guy in my complex with the most junk I've ever seen' who is constantly sorting through boxes and getting rid of things but always has so much more. This guy really does have the most stuff I've ever seen. We had our first real conversation the other day (other than the usual hi how are you kinda conversations). He told me I had such a great personality and should be on television or in public relations for Coca-Cola or Microsoft. He made me laugh.

It amazes me that there are so many people whose routines you get to know so well. I don't really know these people or the others that I pass on a daily basis, but somehow I feel I have come to know them a bit over the past two years. They are a part of my daily routine.

This may be my last post from this continent. Tomorrow I'm heading to Durban with Glenn and a couple of other friends to hang out on the beach for a couple of days before I leave. I'll be back home on Saturday for our end of the year ladies function at the church and then it's off to America on Sunday. So if this is my last post, I'll see you on the other side of the ocean.

Until then ......