Beauty & The Mute-man

Wow! It is a beautiful day in Bryan, Texas... clear, bright, mid 60's, and very pleasant. It feels more like a great spring day instead of the 4th day of December. I hate to say this... but I do miss the sweats, the fireplace, and snugglin' to keep warm. That and the cooking of soup or stew and hot fresh bread are some of the wonderful things about winter in the midwest. I do miss that.

I miss something else... or rather I 'missed' something else. I was at H-E-B grocery store this afternoon when a mute-man came up to me with a little pin attached to a card asking for a donation. I motioned to him I would do it on the way out. He smiled and walked away. On my way out, he found me. I only had a large bill and no change, so I told him I would be back. I broke the bill and went back across the street to find the little man, but he was gone. I felt bad because I had the pin and I had told him I would be back, so I circled the parking lot of the store three times looking for him. He wasn't there.

I pictured the little man hunkered down over a small fire trying to feed his family beans that he scrounged from somewhere. I just felt awful. I have the pin, but he doesn't have his money. Then I had a thought... he might be across the way at another parking lot, so I drove over there and looked for him. Nope. No little mute-man. He was nowhere to be found. I had spent 15 minutes just driving around looking for a little man that had probably driven off to another panhandling spot in his Cadillac . . . which was paid for in cash with charitable donations.

Wait though. I prefer to think of him huddled around a small fire. I have his money in my bag and I will keep my eyes peeled for him the next time I am at the store. I'm sure he will be there... I'm just sure of it. His twelve kids need to eat something besides beans. Right??