Jessica And Kindness

Day 20: For all of being rather small, downtown Puyallup is home to an eclectic collection of sculptures in styles ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. It was in pursuit of the latter that I parked near the library and crossed through a park no larger than a city block. Upon arriving at the far side, I knelt down on the sidewalk beneath a light shower of raindrops without giving any consideration to how my crab-walking crouch might appear to passersby as I maneuvered for the best position to photograph this odd creature. One bicyclist nearly ran me down, apologizing for interrupting me at my work as he went past, and then I heard another voice from behind which said, "Oh, you have a camera. I thought maybe you were hurt or something."

I looked up at a man close to my own age standing astride a bike which clearly held the sum of his worldly belongings. Kindly put, he qualified as a "street person." Another might have dismissed him more curtly as "some homeless guy." Before I could thank him for his concern, he began an agitated narrative regarding "Jessica," for so his peers of the street had nicknamed the sculpture after one of their own. He told me the real Jessica even jokes about the resemblance the figure bears to her cockeyed countenance, saying that the sculptor must have seen her and used her as a model. There was little space in the one-sided conversation for me to utter anything but the occasional chuckle until the words had all drained from my companion but for an introduction. He gave me his real name and then added, "But they call me Steelhead. Who are you?" I introduced myself as Crow, which launched him on another monologue regarding crows and seagulls and an injured starling he'd rescued and was feeding daily. As abruptly as it had begun, the stream of consciousness chatter ceased. Steelhead hopped onto the seat of his bike and pedalled away, calling back to me, "See ya again some time!"

I felt a little ashamed of myself. I kept anticipating the touch for money. It never came. A down-on-his-luck stranger had stopped only to ascertain my well-being, grey-haired and tatty creature that I am, perhaps mistaking me for one of his own. It was a kindness from an unexpected quarter, and one which begs to be balanced in the overall ledger of life.