It's A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

Like all neighborhoods, ours has had its share of annoyance over the years --mostly due to a crank or two. This morning, I was up early and did my daily constitutional, and fantasized I was in a Midwestern small town, with lusher foliage, and warmer weather...

I ran into Irv, who's kissing 80 if not yet there. Irv is a "reformed" lawyer who still works part time in the hotel management business. He, like me, is typically happy. He walks around the neighborhood with a pocket full of dog biscuits, which he gives to pooches who come over for a scratch or two.

We chatted about disbarred lawyers we know, and UM sports. Irv's been a Canes fan since the Korean War, at least, and goes to football, basketball, and baseball games. As we chatted, his wife Kay was leaving for golf. Kay is a retired "stewardess --not flight attendant," from the days where that job required beauty. Irv stole Kay away from a doctor friend --I'm guessing in the early 60s, when Kay must have been a knockout. She's still a lovely lady, and athletic, and Irv let on that sometimes he makes believe his back hurts more than it does, to avoid playing golf with his wife, who always beats him soundly. As Irv said: "I worked with a golf pro, who advised me to take off 2 weeks, and then quit."

After Irv, I ran into pretty Stephanie, who grew up in Pinecrest, and then went north to an Ivy League college, where she met a budding investment banker. D1 sees Stephanie as a role model --Master's Degree, but doesn't have to worry about supporting a family. We chatted briefly about our kids, and Stephanie jogged off.

Next I saw Brian, a warm and charming surgeon, as much as an oxymoron as that sounds. Brian was off to the hospital, and we chatted about repairing gates. My friends at the hospital where Brian works tell me he's tops in his specialty, yet he's always self effacing almost to the point of shyness. He's married to a Latina flight attendant, who could have fit the old criteria of her job's description.

After that was Steve, the retired NAvy JAG officer, now a lawyer in practice. Steve is a Tom Cruise lookalike and soundalike. He was coming back from his daily 50 mile bike ride, in all the silly biker clothes those guys wear. I always ask him if something is chasing him to go that fast, and caution him that he'll NEVER be able to grow a belly like mine if he keeps up with all of that aerobic work. He chuckles every time.

So --it was a wonderful day, as Mr. Rogers sings. I'm flying up to Gainesville tomorrow to fetch D1, who is coming home for most of the summer. She always tells us how much she misses living at home. On a day like today, it's easy to see why