With an hour or so before a birthday hike for my friend Anne (GORGEOUS day for it), I was looking forward to a cup of coffee and some reading at Bountiful Cafe. I peeked in as I approached the windows - it looked like the perfect stage for my plan. Only one other person. A big table where I could set up for an hour. Warm and sunny inside the restaurant. Good coffee and the smell of fresh baked goods to make me feel right at home.
I was just about to sit down when the only other person in the restaurant approached me. "I've never seen anyone put on computer lotion before." My puzzled look made him explain, "I've never seen anyone put on hand lotion to sit down and work at their computer." I laughed and said, "Oh, that's a funny thought. It's that time of year; I always need hand lotion in the winter." He nodded and said, "I understand. I always need it after I get out of the swimming pool. I swim at this place called Barton Springs, do you know of it?"
And here is where I sealed my fate for the next hour and a half.
I replied that of course I knew of it and that I swam there every week and that I was there even yesterday when it was below freezing...and that I, too, swam there without a wetsuit unless I was in training for something.
The smile that crossed this 70+ year-old's face was priceless. He shook his head and said, "I just can't believe this. Can I come and sit with you? You can have some of my soup. It really is good soup." I declined the offer to share his soup but agreed to share my table with him.
And that's where I took a journey from his jewelry days in New Orleans to the clocks and thermometer at Deep Eddy pool (that apparently he donated) and eventually to the flashlights and pocket knives that he collected and bought and handed out. To people like me. People who he thinks have a wonderful spirit and a great outlook on life (these are his words). Oh, I also got a disposable straw ("because you just never know when you're going to need one") and business cards for a shop sharpening place in town and the Bountiful Cafe where we were sitting. I know that he has a daughter who is my age who has read hair, was born in Hawaii, went to Davidson College (which is odd since that's where Granddaddy went), lives here in Austin, works at a church, has one child, is 6 ft. tall and is married to a man who is 6' 4". I know that Mr. Davis (my coffee buddy) grew up in Houston and went to Bellaire High School. He lived in New Orleans before coming to Austin and he's a jeweler here. But only by appointment. (I don't really understand all of that!) He swims at Barton Springs and at Deep Eddy and feeds the homeless cats at Deep Eddy (he has cat food in the back of his car). He brings lunch to the man at the photo shop on Bee Caves. He has more stuff in his car than I do..."crap" as he described it. And he loves to shop at Goodwill. Oh, and his wife of 34 years left him when he wasn't making enough money. (I'm sure that there is LOTS more to that story but it still seemed to make him sad so I didn't ask any questions.) Have I mentioned that I didn't ask him more than about two questions over the course of this dialogue...he just kept talking and sharing...and I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something.
When I finally cut in and said that I needed to get going so I wouldn't be late for the hike he said, "Well, Elizabeth the Great, wait just one minute because I have something for you. Do you have a minute? It's just out in my car." Unsure of what to say, I did what I'd been doing for the last hour or so and I nodded. He put on his cap, went out the door, and then returned with cards with pictures of Barton Springs on the front, two pocket knives (with clips...which he thinks are essential for clipping them to your pants), a straw, cards for the knife store, and two packages of flashlights. "Thank you." I mean, really, what else do you say?! My mind was spinning. I'm sure there was a reason for this encounter. Maybe I'll figure that out in my next lifetime. All I know is that all I went in for was a cup of coffee. And I came away with a lot more...and not just the things in the picture. Funny how life takes you on a different path sometimes...wonder if my path with cross with Mr. Davis again? He swims with a snorkel at BSP and sometimes does the backstroke...guess there is a chance that post March 12, I might see him there. Wonder if he'll remember the girl with the smile that he loved that he gave the pocket knives, flashlights, straw, and BSP cards to in Bountiful Cafe that day in January 2011. Probably not. Although I'm not sure I'll forget him anytime soon. It's encounters like this that keep the world interesting and remind me that I just never really know what's around the next bend...even when I think it's just a cup of coffee!
1 comment:
Wonderful story!!
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