Social Networking

The little girl is oh-so-close to being able to hold her own head up steady, which means we're oh-so-close to being able to saddle up on the bikes again. Hopefully within a few weeks. Until then, we remain pedestrian people...



The rain having broken for the evening and Kelly's sprained ankle just about healed and in need of rehabilitation; we took our pedestrian skills to the street for an early-evening stroll around Northampton.



Coffees acquired, we looped around the back streets simply looking at simple stuff that caught our attention simply.









It was a short loop but just long enough to finish off the coffees as dark settled in and we made the return leg back up to Main Street...



We took a break and sat down on the steps in front of the Chocolate Emporium, to watch the world roll by as night fell.





Then, we were beset with a sudden act of high sociability. A jovial looking man appeared, walking over from the street, and engaged us in a very friendly conversation about the baby and the dog. Especially the dog. Apparently he and his wife had just recently gotten a Miniature Pinscher like ours, and he was curious about how life with Nemo was. We chatted and joked about it for a bit, and he said goodbye and returned to where he came from, which was a car that we just now noticed was stopped and idling in the street. Huh, now that's unusual, I thought; he actually pulled over in the street and jumped out just to talk to us about the dog...

He was a really nice person, and it was a nice little conversation. But it got me to wondering: how often does something like that happen? Where else do people leap out of cars to engage complete strangers in conversation on a city street?

It happens, sure. But it's rare. Northampton-rare, I'd say...

Then, even more unusual (I thought), after the man returned to the car, the driver's side door opened and out came his wife, who hurried over for a look at the pooch herself. Another nice conversation ensued. Nice people. Dog lovers. Northamptonites.

The whole episode and unexpected conversation left me smiling a little to myself, as we got up and wound out our loop back to the car.



I wonder if that kind of sociability is catchy...