I felt the urge to get to this beautiful park. A park I hadn’t visited for quite a while, even though I’ve driven past it at least a few times every week, and I’ve lived within a few hundred metres of it for the past 3 years. This day was the day for it.

I was exhausted from the weekend with my friend Allan, lovingly referred to as ‘The Texan’. Everything is bigger in Texas, and, as I learnt, so are the parties. Allan knew how to have fun. Thus the exhaustion on a Sunday night. I needed a spot to come and sit and reflect.

I walked across to the park, sat myself down on an unoccupied bench near the centre, light a cigarette and looked around at the general goings-on. There were dogs everywhere. That I remembered from the last time. Dogs playing, fighting, sniffing and doing all the wonderfully free and random things that dogs generally do. In tow of two of these creatures was a man who later introduced himself as Linden. He asked me for a cigarette and I of course obliged. We chatted for a bit, although I really struggled to complete my sentences, seeing that the lack of sleep had robbed me of most of my faculties, or at least, certainly my conversational abilities. But he was easy to speak to and didn’t try to engage too deeply, something for which I was quite grateful. I bade him farewell and moved on around the park, continuing my observations and trying to stay awake. But I was still thinking about Linden. It renewed my faith, love and belief in Cape Town and it’s ability to provide for me what is necessary in my life.  I was intrigued by him. He wasn’t the typical guy you meet at the bars or clubs and certainly not the kind who would fit into most of the social circles I’ve come to revolve in. But that was exactly what intrigued me about him.

I sat down on another bench, hoping that I hadn’t seen the last of him. Sure enough, his dogs brought him over to me again. He sat down and we shared another cigarette, sharing more about each other. I was still not sure about which team he batted for, but my gut told me that it was the same as mine. I really needed to sleep by this point, so I made my motions to go. Linden asked to exchange numbers and we did. I guess if I still had doubts, they were lifted now. I wanted him to ask me to his place for coffee right then, but I knew I wouldn’t be great company, so we planned to meet later on in the week. It hasn’t happened yet and I feel bad about that, because I don’t want him to get the impression that I don’t want to get to know more about him. I guess I just seem to be spinning a bit much at the moment and need to ground myself a bit before I can fit new people into my life. I barely seem to have time for myself, let alone all the people that I know and love. But I would like to get to know him a bit better. Better in a friend kind of way. The kind of way that allows you to expand your circle and experience more than you usually allow yourself. So I’m going to make a proper date with him so that I don’t miss out on the ’something’ that I was being led to when Linden came and chatted to me in the park.

Thought for the day: “When a stranger sits down next to you and start talking to you, talk back. You never know what opportunity is being presented to you.”

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