Surprised by joy.

I am happy to report that since my last blog, I have ridden my bike both yesterday and today. I didn't ride very far, but it's a start.

My rides have been punctuated by chats with a kind gentleman that lives on the road I've been riding on and walks down it several times every day. I don't know exactly how old he is, but he could definitely be my grandpa, possibly even my great-grandpa. I don't even know his name, but he's extremely friendly, and inevitably whenever I have passed him, he has started talking.

To be completely honest, before I stared riding, part of me hoped that he wouldn't be outside walking when I decided to go for a ride. I hold nothing against him, but I feel like I need to prepare myself for social interactions. It's just part of my nature. So when I feel prepared and I decide that I want to be with people and talk to them, then that's fine. But I feel really uncomfortable whenever I'm in full introvert mode and I suddenly have to open up and be sociable. Especially with someone I do not know at all, who seems to want to stop everything and chat for a while. Times like those are real challenges for someone like me.

But I think I make the best of it. And no matter how much of a struggle it may be, I do my best to be kind and as friendly as is possible. Therefore, every time this gentleman has started talking to me, I have stopped my bike and listened to him and tried my best to carry on a conversation. I ended up talking to him three times today. It was impossible to pass him without saying something.

And really it's not so bad. He is the sweetest thing. Apparently, he's lived around here for a while, because he told my brother and me a story yesterday about something that happened at a little store down the road a long time ago. He's always wearing this bright yellow, reflective vest. It does a fine job of making sure people see him. He also heads up the neighborhood watch, and from what I have gathered, he tries to walk 5 miles a day. Pretty cool for someone his age. Even though I was initially dreading encountering him, I found myself smiling the whole time I was riding, because of my few conversations with him. I'm smiling again now just thinking about it. This is one of the first times in my life I have lived in a neighborhood where I have had the opportunity to get to know somebody like this. It's been an unexpected joy interacting with this sweet soul.

I should ask him what his name is sometime....