Flat Stacey Meets Paul

         This afternoon I was outside cleaning tree sap off of my wife’s car. We don’t have any trees in our driveway that throw sap. The primes suspect was our oldest son. He went to visit a friend with the car a few nights ago and must have parked under a tree that did throw sap. I was upset about that because sap is very hard to remove from windows. It can also damage the paint on a car. If you care about your car, always be careful where you park it.

        There I was scrubbing away, when who did I see walking up the driveway? It was my friend Paul. I haven’t seen Paul in quite some time, so I was very happy to see him. Paul lives a few blocks up the street from me. Paul is a retired custodian at our school district’s high school. He lives alone and likes to go out on walks all over town as a way to get out of the house. I think that he understands that walking is a good form of exercise and that it helps him stay in shape. He knows folks all over town. His foot journeys are broken up by the people he stops to chat with along the way.

        We became friends because Paul walks. He would stop and talk to me when I was outside doing yard work or washing the cars. One of the things I like about him is his vast knowledge of local history. He often relates stories from his youth and about how he grew up on a farm. It was much harder being young back then compared to today. He tells me great stories about people, places and things. Paul is also a very giving person. Many times he has dropped off books and magazines that are strictly about local history. I love learning about our past. Paul also has his own vegetable garden in his back yard. All summer long he stops by and gives us fresh vegetables to enjoy. They are always delicious and much cheaper than what you can buy in a store.

        As time went on, Paul and I occasionally went out on adventures together. He likes going to an auction that is held on Wednesday nights a few miles up the road. One time when I was on vacation I got to go with him. He picked me up in his little pickup truck. It was nice meeting his friends there, and there were many. Another time we went to another favorite place of his, the Leesport Farmer’s Market. It was the first time I was there. It was very neat with lots of good things to see, but our journey was cut short by torrential rain.

        One time a few years ago I was talking to Paul about my flying adventures. Paul told me that he never flew in an airplane. I couldn’t believe it! He was 81 years old and had never left the ground? That was unacceptable to me. A few weeks after that conversation, I had the pleasure of giving Paul his first airplane ride. He met me at a local airport, I put him in the backseat and we went flying. We flew over the farm he grew up on, and a couple different houses that he lived in over the years. He liked flying very much and said how different everything looked from the air. I wanted him to try flying the plane. He wouldn’t have any of that and was happy just to look around. I admire Paul for not being afraid to try new things. It is a good lesson for all of us, no matter how old we are. Hopefully, Paul and I will fly again this summer.

        When he came walking up to me this afternoon, I asked how he has been and he asked the same of me. I wasted no time telling him about Flat Stacey and then I went inside to get her so that he could meet her. Stacey fit nicely in Paul’s jacket pocket. That wouldn’t be possible if she were not flat! She listened quietly as Paul and I talked about the weather. He also told us a story about when he was growing up on the farm and they lost power for two weeks because of a snow storm. It was hard for him and his family because they had to milk all the cows by hand instead of using a machine. Paul and his family endured two weeks of living in the old days, yet we would be complaining if we lost power for a few hours. People from Paul’s generation are tough people who knew how to get by without whining. That’s another reason I admire Paul and older people like him.

        Flat Stacey enjoyed her time with Paul, perhaps a little too much. She asked me if she could walk around town with Paul so she could listen to his stories and meet his friends. She even asked if she could sleep over at his house to help keep him company. While I appreciated her kind intentions, it was with regret I had to answer, “No.”  If the weather cooperates, Flat Stacey and I will hit the road in the big truck tomorrow. We only have so much time together, and there are so many things to see and plenty of people that she has yet to meet.

        It made me happy to see Paul today. I have not seen him in quite some time because of the cold weather and snow. I start to worry after a while. Seeing him walking around was almost like a certain sign that spring is right around the corner. We are taught when we are young that we should not talk to strangers. That is very good advice, but as we grow older we develop a sense of who we can talk to, and who we should avoid. There are a lot of good people in the world, and Paul is one of them. I am glad to have him as my friend.

        Thank goodness my son took the car and parked it under a tree that threw sap on it. If he wouldn’t have done that, I wouldn’t have been out there scrubbing the windshield and I would have missed Paul walking by. Flat Stacey would have also missed out on meeting a great person. That would have made me sad.