I Noticed

Solitude. I was alone, too, when I found this image in February 2021 in Old Town Alexandria one evening. I wondered what this person might be thinking…was s/he waiting? Watching? Thinking? Down the rabbit hole I go…can we truly be alone if we have our phones? What would it be like if I didn’t have my phone. Would that translate to solitude? If I were sitting next to this person, would they talk with me? Would I talk with them? I think I would although my shyness would make the first connection difficult. The night was quiet, snowy, peaceful.

Whenever I find myself in a snowy, quiet place with few people I’m transported 60 years back to where I grew up…Huron, SD. The teen years weren’t always happy ones but the memories of those quiet evenings with snow crunching under my boots is a pleasant memory. But then, I remember the twenty degrees below zero, wind blowing 50mph, and 6 foot snow drifts. It all goes together, can’t have the good memories without the bad.