I Found a Robertson Screwdriver

It was pretty brisk this morning, the temperature had dipped to 6º last night, so I put on a sweater over my t-shirt and shorts and Buster wore a fur coat for our walk. I find that it is always best to under dress when you are going to be somewhat active. If you are cool you tend to walk a little faster. I don’t know what Buster’s problem is. I guess he figures if he is going to have to slow it down to my speed then he might as well be comfortable.

I decided to take the shorter half hour walk because I was hoping to get breakfast at Ikea and if you get there between 9:30 and 10:00 the breakfast is 99₵ and the coffee is free. Just so it doesn’t drive you crazy, we didn’t get there till 10:05. Sucks to be me! The walk takes me around Lester B. Pearson High School and a sports field that has a football field, two soccer fields and three baseball diamonds. It is pretty big. The odd thing about it is that there is an eight foot chain link fence surrounding the field on two sides and there is no access except at the far ends of the fences. Weird!

Only in Calgary would they have a sports park that has limited access. I guess they figure if it is really hard to get into then nothing will get used and therefore nothing will get damaged. I know that the fence prevents balls from going out onto one of the two busy streets that run parallel to the fence, but why not a doorway of sorts? Oh well, that doesn’t impact on the story.

The fence marches along unbroken from the school to the intersecting street and then follows the field to the end of the park. Now, as Buster and I approached this corner I first noticed a pretty young woman with dark hair, jeans and a sweatshirt that had obviously been crying on one side of the fence. When I rounded the corner I saw a young man with a backpack on the opposite side of the fence who was obviously very concerned about how distressed the young woman was. I was listening to “The Only Exception” by Paramore on my headphones so I didn’t hear even a snippet of what was going on. Damn my luck!

So, I have to fill in the blanks by myself. This should be fun. They are a modern day Romeo and Juliet whose parents have forbidden there love. No, too common. She was jogging around the park and an early morning bug flew into her eye and she asked this passing stranger to help her get it out. They fall in love, but her parents forbid their love because she is promised to another. Nah!

They have been classmates and over the years, they have competed for scholastic first place in the rural one room school that they attend, believing they hated each other, but have come to realize that they are actually in love. No, I said she was dark haired, not red headed. Hmmmm...

He found out that she had been unfaithful and he had walked out of her life forever just five minutes earlier. She had foolishly believed that the truth would set her free, and I guess in a way it has. She ran to catch up to him, but took a shortcut which put her on the wrong side of the fence. The fence and the truth were both barriers to their love, and he could never look at her with trusting eyes again. In the years to come, he will often think of her when he ponders the “what ifs” of his life. He has never found a love as pure as the one he had had with her. She, on the other hand, went from one unsatisfying relationship to another, always feeling that something was missing. Perhaps in thirty years after each had an unhappy marriage and an even unhappier divorce, they will meet at a community playhouse production of Romeo and Juliet. They will talk as if they hadn’t been separated at all and on their way to get a coffee at Tim Horton’s, he will take her hand in his and it will feel right. I hope they can manage to laugh and love for the rest of their lives.

Buster and I continued on our walk and I found a Robertson screwdriver beside a dumpster. It was dirty, but I kept it anyways.