Talk to Strangers 2.0

Random encounters can make or break a day. Today I met a stranger. Following a dental appointment and few laps of mall walking I decided to go to Bergfeld Recreation Trail and walk from the parking lot off of Pennsylvania Avenue down to Bergfeld pond and turn around on the trail without walking the pond’s circumference. In my head, the trail does not seem very long, but is approximately 1.9 miles long with the loop around the pond adding another 0.8 miles. Before the halfway point on the trail, there is an intersection of the trail with Chavenelle Rd. It was at this point I had paused to let cars go by before crossing the street. As I crossed, I encountered an older gentlemen with all white hair and looked like he was probably in his 60s or 70s. He politely asked me if he could know what my name was, so I told him. He thanked me and clarified he was wondering if I was the son or relative of a friend of his who I apparently had a resemblance. He was heading in the same direction I was on the trail toward the pond. We began talking and walking together; however, he was determined to walk and jog in intervals so I matched his pace. I knew I was not as fit as I was during the summer when I was working outside a lot, but I learned I really needed to get used to exercising again as I struggled to keep up with him. We covered a variety of topics within our conversation, and I let him steer what we discussed because I was focusing on trying to physically keep up. Some of the topics we talked about were shows we watched on History Channel, places we have gone to walk/jog around Dubuque, my education and job search, climate change, scouting, and being physically active throughout your lifetime. He was an interesting guy. He told me that he did not really get into jogging until he was in his 50s. He said it became a habit of his to go jogging and he started off going around Heritage Pond and eventually made it to the recreation trail that runs from near Hempstead High School, along NW Arterial, and down to 32nd street. He said he had gradually pushed himself to go further and further distances. Originally he was more than content with going four miles and then that became comfortable so he went for 13 miles, but that got comfortable too. He eventually pushed himself to go 26 miles and was content with that because he figured it was close enough to running a marathon. When we reached the pond, he just started making his way around it and I continued alongside him because the conversation was pleasant and it is good to push yourself when trying to get back into shape. As we jogged, he would wave at people we went by. As we walked, he would joke with people we passed. When we returned to the Chavenelle Rd intersection we parted ways. I was sad to see him go but our conversation had put me in a good mood and my muscles were feeling well worked. As I walked the rest of the trail back to my car I was thankful for the random encounter because it made exercising feel less like work and physically pushed me more than I was going to push myself. I realized I never learned his name, his religious beliefs, his economic background, or political beliefs. We talked about random aspects of our lives and built a connection on things we had in common and just rolled with it. In a world that seems to focus on what makes us different it was wonderful to have this type of encounter.