Human Connections
Real moments between people living abroad: a stranger who helped, a friend you lost touch with, someone you wish you had spoken to.
You told your fern good job when you got off the train
You were asleep, sitting perfectly upright on the train with a very large fern in your lap, and each time the carriage swayed the fern leaned in the same direction as you, like a pair. I was across from you watching a small act of friendship between a person and a plant. Your stop came. You woke up at exactly the right...
Missed connectionDear inflatable dinosaur, where were you going?
You rode the streetcar on Queen Street West in a full inflatable dinosaur costume and sat very carefully between two people who did not look up from their phones. You pressed the stop button with your tiny arm. Nobody commented. I was across the aisle with a tote bag, trying not to cry from laughing. You got off at the...
Missed connectionNobody asked why you were on a lawn mower in a sequin jacket
You rode a riding lawn mower down South Congress early on a Friday morning in a sequin jacket and a cowboy hat, with a coffee in the cup holder, nodding to people on the sidewalk like a mayor. Nobody asked. It is Austin. I was in a line and gave you a thumbs up. You tipped the hat. I think the lawn mower had a name. I...
Missed connectionDid your sandwich survive the pelican on Playa La Paz?
A pelican followed you the whole length of Playa La Paz, three steps behind, eyeing your sandwich with deep ambition. You did not give in. You sped up. It sped up. I was on the sand watching two creatures in a very old negotiation. At the end you ate the sandwich in one bite, turned, and spread your hands to show the p...
Missed connectionYou held up your hand and Piedmont Park waited for the ducks
On Saturday morning in Piedmont Park a long line of ducks crossed the path and you stopped your bicycle and held up your hand like a traffic officer. I stopped. A runner stopped. A woman with a dog stopped. We waited together for about forty seconds. When the last duck passed you said, thank you all, and rode off. We d...
Missed connectionA paddle board drifted toward the marina with its sleeper under a hat
You fell asleep on a paddle board off Medano Beach on Saturday morning with your hat over your face and drifted slowly toward the marina, past the yachts, like a very relaxed spy. I stood on the sand holding a coffee and a growing sense of horror. You woke up three boats in, saluted a yacht owner who had come out on de...
Missed connectionDid you leave a horse tied to a lamppost in Deep Ellum?
You rode a horse into Deep Ellum at midnight and tied it politely to a lamppost, like it was a bicycle, and went into a bar. I was walking past and stopped dead. The horse looked at me, looked at the lamppost, and settled. Five people formed a respectful half circle to admire it. You came out an hour later and said, th...
Missed connectionDoes the violinist on the unicycle still play on Quinta Avenida?
On a Saturday evening you played the violin on a unicycle at the corner of Quinta Avenida and Calle 10, and you were good at both. A woman next to me whispered, he is going to fall, and watched the whole piece with her hand over her mouth. You did not fall. At the end you bowed without getting off, which I think is the...
Missed connection"Just lie down" you shouted, and I lay down in the surf at Playa Guiones
You were paddling out at Playa Guiones at dawn and I was standing waist deep with a rented board and a look of pure panic. You looked back and shouted, just lie down. I lay down. A wave took me and I came up laughing with the board in my hand. You gave me a thumbs up from fifty meters out. I caught my first wave on Thu...
A chance meetingWho was right about the bajareque, the old man or the woman?
The bajareque came in at the Parque Central bus stop at 3pm and a crowd of us stood under the same small roof, all commenting on the weather as if it were new information. An older man said, it will clear in twenty minutes. A woman said, thirty. They shook hands on it. It cleared in twenty five. They both claimed victo...
Missed connectionA rooster chased your bicycle down Calle Delfines and then waited for you
You rode down Calle Delfines at eight in the morning on a beach cruiser with a surfboard under your arm, and a rooster ran out of a doorway and chased you for twenty meters. You did not fall. You did not look back. I was on the corner with a smoothie, applauding with my whole face. At the beach you stopped, turned arou...
Missed connectionDid the dog get to pick where you paddled?
You were paddling a board off Bayshore Boulevard on a Sunday morning with a very large dog standing at the front like a hood ornament, ears blown back, face full of joy. I was on the sidewalk with an iced tea, filled with an unreasonable envy of the dog. You waved with one hand. The dog did not move. I counted a small...
Missed connectionA cat followed you like a bodyguard through Casco Viejo
You walked the length of a Casco Viejo street one Friday evening with a cat following a few steps behind you in a perfectly straight line, like a bodyguard. You did not look back once. You went into a doorway. The cat sat down outside, facing the street, on duty. I stood across the road for ten minutes. Nobody came for...
Missed connectionWe both said respect as a squirrel crossed Parc La Fontaine with a bagel
A squirrel ran across Parc La Fontaine on Sunday at noon holding an entire bagel in both hands, nearly as large as it was, and you stood and watched with complete reverence, hands on your chest. I was on a bench with a coffee and had the same expression. We turned to each other at the same moment and said, respect. We...
Missed connectionYou studied that cheese like it was a contract
You stood in front of a cheese stall at the Sunday market at Lake Eola Park for eleven minutes, tasting from a pile of toothpicks, like a person signing a contract. I was behind you holding a tomato. The seller said, take your time. You said, I am, and bought the smallest piece they had. I have thought about what the c...
Missed connectionParrot versus pelican on the rail at South Pointe Park
You walked through South Pointe Park on Saturday at about 5pm with a bright green parrot on your shoulder, calm, as if it were a coat, and a pelican on the rail began to scold you. The parrot answered back. I was on a bench eating a sandwich with a very good seat. I am still not sure who won. You looked at me and said,...
Missed connectionDear rider with the little bell, the whole Calle Loiza fair made room for you
You rode through the street fair on Calle Loiza on a Saturday afternoon in a three piece suit on a small folding bicycle, ringing the bell at every corner like you were announcing a ceremony. The crowd opened for you. A woman handed you a pastry without breaking your stride. I was on the sidewalk eating the other half...
A chance meetingThe seagull took my fries and a stranger gave me his
A seagull took my entire cone of fries on the Waterfront Boardwalk on Thursday at 1pm, at a speed I had not thought possible. I stood there. A man on the next bench silently held out his own cone, stood up, bowed slightly and walked away. I did not get a word in. I have been trying to find him to return a cone. The sea...
A chance meetingA woman held a newspaper over us both in Chapultepec Park
The storm came in so fast at Chapultepec Park that I just stood under a tree and gave up. A woman holding a folded newspaper over her head said, come, and we walked together to the exit, both soaked on one side, neither of us talking. At the gate we started laughing at exactly the same moment. She went one way and I we...
Found a friendYou should join us, he said, and now I am the guest
A frisbee landed on my towel at Pacific Beach and a man jogged over to get it. I threw it back, badly. He said, you should join us, we play on Thursdays. I have not missed a Thursday for fourteen months. I am still bad. They have changed the rules so that nobody counts the number of times I miss. The new rule is called...
Found a friendDear mailman, sorry about the sprinkler in Highland Park
My front yard sprinkler in Highland Park started shooting water sideways at the mailman one Saturday morning, and I ran out with a towel and no plan. The neighbor from across the street arrived with a wrench in his hand and a fixed grin, and we spent an hour kneeling in a puddle arguing about valves. We now share tools...
Found a friend"I thought you needed company," said the cyclist at the red light
I was riding badly down a bike lane in Pilsen on a summer evening when another cyclist matched my slow speed for ten blocks without saying anything. When we reached the red light he said, I thought you needed company. We have ridden together every Thursday since. He is much faster than me and slows down on purpose. I t...
Found a friendI only wanted to know what the fisherman was doing with that net
Every afternoon in Chaloklum I watched an old fisherman mending a net, until I finally asked what he was doing. He answered in Thai, then slowly in English, then with his hands. I came back the next day with a notebook. Three months of afternoons later I can say fifteen things about nets and he can say good morning in...
Found a friendI lost my bicycle key and gained a tea stall in the Ancient Town
I lost the key to my bicycle lock in the Ancient Town one June afternoon and stood there with my hands in my pockets for ten minutes. A woman at the tea stall opposite brought out a small hammer, a screwdriver and a chair, and the two of us fixed it together while the tea went cold. That was June. I have had tea at tha...
