A Capitol Hill Neighbor

What are the odds? After our morning walk in our neighborhood - this time in the streets rather than the park - we took an extended ride in to the city. We usually take a ride after a walk to “cool down” before going home. After driving the usual route on Independence Avenue - passing by the annual garden across from the Washington Monument and under the bridge where an Amtrak train was flying by - we drove to our old house. I thought I saw a woman we knew talking to someone as we pulled around the corner, so we went around the block again and she was still there. So we stopped the car and I called her name. In spite of us all wearing masks, she responded but didn’t know who we were until I said our names. She was our son’s next door neighbor and our neighbor as well since we lived just a few houses down the block. We saw her occasionally over the thirteen years we lived on Capitol Hill - mostly in her garden as we walked by, but also when she needed a bit of assistance when she had surgery. Anyway, it was nice to see a familiar face even with a mask. Just consider the odds of that happening. We have passed through the old neighborhood several times since we moved over a year ago and have seen a few familiar faces, but none that we really knew. So we chatted for a bit and caught up - she sending regards to our family - her old neighbors - and we telling her where we moved. Then we headed out towards eastern market, down Pennsylvania Avenue, and on to the freeway back home. For the first time in months there was a sign of life in the city. More cars were in the road and the tour buses have started up again - although they remain quite empty. There are things we miss about our old stomping grounds, but more that we don’t. We wanted to be within ten miles of town so we could still go in for library programs and walks. Things have changed and we can’t do most of the things we liked to do. So when we see a familiar face it makes all the difference.