2024, Food, pets, space

Strangers in the Park

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Photo credit: WTHR Indianapolis

Lots of folks have asked me why I took the road trip by myself to see the eclipse in Indianapolis.  Easy peasey – so I could do just what I wanted every single minute and not have to have anyone else’s agenda pushing up against mine.  Same reason I go to Opening Day at the State Fair by myself.

So if that means I overestimate how many insane folks will want to park in the White River State Park ramp and go WAY too early to nab my spot, it’s OK.  If I walk up and down the long row of food trucks (24 of them) twice before I decide what I want, it’s OK.  And if I talk to strangers, it’s OK (this is something in particular that drives YA crazy.)

Here are just a few of the interesting folks I met on eclipse day:

A guy from Kentucky with a very cute corgi.  He was sitting on a bench, apparently waiting for his wife – he wasn’t sure where she can gone off to.  They had decided just a couple of weeks before to make the trip; they had managed to find a room but it was about an hour out of the city.  He was also sporting an eclipse jacket and baseball cap.  Like me, he got his online.

David was one of the first food truck owners to get his truck in place; he wanted a really good view of the river on each side of the bridge from his spot.  He’s been running his food truck (assorted health food kinds of items including a vegetarian walking taco) for 20 years but he’s thinking about quitting because he want to focus more on his music and getting it published.

Two gals assembling a University of Indiana tent – turns out that the university has a new “global and local event planning” program and part of the semester was putting together the event in the park.  When I told them I was a retired planner, we commiserated for a bit and laughed at what non-planners think is involved.  Then one of the gals said “we’re not supposed to give this out until later, but I like you…” and gave me a cake pop with white and red icing (U of Indy colors).  It was yummy.

Three cops on bikes.  I’ve never seen police on bikes before and they were willing to take a few minutes to talk to me.  The officers on bikes program has been around for almost 20 years now and has been called an unqualified success.  The bikers patrol the downtown area (which includes White River Park) as well as a couple of suburbs that ring the downtown.  The officers in the program like it a lot; they say they can get around more easily that in a car and have been able to establish better relations with the community.  As the pedaled off, they all three went down a fairly long set of stairs – without a wobble!

Of course, I talked to many more people, especially folks with dogs.  Since I parked early and set out my chair about six hours ahead of time, I had a lot of leisure to connect with others.  Eclipse apparel was also a good discussion point and because of matching t-shirts I met a couple (their t-shirts matched mine) who had been in the same parking lot as me in St. Joseph, Missouri for the 2017 eclipse.  Amazing how you can connect just by talking to people!

Do you talk to strangers when you’re out and about?  Any favorite topics?

20 thoughts on “Strangers in the Park”

  2. I love this post for both your insisting to go alone and “have it your way”, and for the stories of connecting. I love to talk with strangers who are also willing to engage.

    It depends on where we are – often the setting gives enough of a prompt to get a conversation started. But “where are you from” will sometimes do it, even locally – Where in Winona do you live? (The people way up on the bluff actually get different weather than us folks down on the flats.)

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    1. That really was a sweet old tradition wasn’t it. I worked hard making construction paper May Baskets. But the candy was leftover Easter candy and it was yucky. I used to pick violets and add those, too.

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    1. I did seven baskets today. I made the flowers from bits of egg carton that I painted and used pipe cleaners for the stems and buttons for the insides. 

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons from JacAnon on her iPad,

    Talking to fellow travelers and “locals” is my favorite thing to do while traveling. In July 19 while on the subway in Manhatten, I visited with a woman sitting next to me. She had a heavy accent which she identified as Russian, having emigrated in the 70s. Then she went off on the man who was President at that time. (I did not raise this topic). I was concerned she might get a reaction from the other riders. She said, “Not a problem. We all hate him here. He has created problems everywhere. Nobody on the subway disagrees!” Then she listed his many trespasses. To be sure, she did not wish him well. I almost missed our stop.

    While in Venice in 2004 we met an Australian woman who had immigrated from Estonia. She looked Finnish to me, with very white-blond hair and a short, sturdy build, but when I looked up the locations of Estonia and Finland, they are adjacent, so very probably are drawing from the same gene pool. She was an Australian businesswoman on a holiday by herself for the same reasons you travelled alone VS. And she was a fabulous conversationalist.

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  6. Happy May Day! One of my neighbors is a long-time participant in the MIA’s annual Art in Bloom exhibit. So is her mother (who is 90), and her oldest daughter (in her mid 30ies). This morning I found a lovely arrangement of the left-over lilies she had used in her piece at the MIA on my front stoop. She and her two daughters have left a little May Day flower arrangement every years since the girls were little. What a lovely family, and what lovely neighbors.

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  7. The last few years I have become more and more chatty with strangers. I never used to do that and Kelly teases me about it. But THERE ARE SO MANY STORIES OUT THERE!! How would we ever know if we didn’t talk?

    It may still depend on my mood and the timing, but I don’t think I’ve ever regretted it. And sometimes it’s the people who have started conversations with me, have made lasting impressions.

    Ben

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  9. I’ve been talking to strangers here in Ireland. I’m not usually so outgoing, but these people are so friendly and seem to enjoy talking to us. We’ve learned quite a bit from just talking to people. There was a young woman in a small pub in Fanore who wasn’t friendly at first, but became very friendly when we started chatting with her. She laughed at us and finally seemed to enjoy it. It wouldn’t have been easy for me if I wasn’t with Colleen and her sister who are both very friendly and nice.
    We visited Farney Castle today, which is where some of Colleen’s ancestors once lived. It was fascinating. We’re in Dublin now. There was a protest against the war in Gaza right outside our window earlier. Things got a little rough for a minute but settled quickly. People seem much more progressive here. Tomorrow we will go see the Book of Kells. Wednesday Laurel will have to go to the airport and home, we will head to Belfast.

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  10. The easiest and most natural opportunities for conversation with strangers is when you are mutually waiting for something and have nowhere else to be. Presumably you have gathered for a common purpose, so you have that to talk about and it can proceed from there.

    Some of our best interactions with strangers have been with our hosts at Air B&Bs. One was a professional juggler. One was a painter of Russian Icons. One couple was Mennonite and were trying to establish a craft school. When we stayed with the Mudds in Killen, Scotland, we ended up chatting with them over tea and biscuits while we watched a n old rerun of Perry Mason. Mr. Mudd was a local historian and told us stories about Black Duncan of the Cowl.

    Some venues are particularly easy for me to initiate a chat- historical settings, art exhibits and fiber arts, anything involving animals. I’d happily talk all day to used booksellers but they tend to be a reticent bunch. It can be awkward in arts and craft settings or for that matter any small vendor setting where you really don’t like the product. I am no good at dissembling.

    We were out for a walk a few years ago and met an elderly woman who was crossing the street opposite to us. A casual comment led to a conversation, which led to an invitation to visit her home nearby. She was the widow of Balthazar Korab (you can look him up), who was an internationally recognized architectural photographer. He had worked with Frank Lloyd Wright and Edsel Ford, among others. The widow, Monica Korab, had, as a girl, been introduced to Henry Ford and once traveled from England by ocean liner in the company of John Lennon and his son Julien. Her house, which was a former commercial building converted to a residence. It was filled with archival boxes of her husband’s work, the purchase of which she was in negotiation with the Smithsonian.

    You never know where a casual comment can lead.

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  11. I can’t help it I chat.always have. A comment that starts it generally leads it and the smiles interactions and exchanges make it all worthwhile. My kids used to get after me about it but Christ they are all 21-40 now so they’ve become comfortable and have seen how much fun it often is. I’ve met many people who I learn some detail about and most where you just get the essence of the soul.

    i love “being on my own” at events as well as most every day these days

    i get to pick my own podcasts radio shows and books and this last weekend when traveling to Chicago with my wife and grandson I was too tired to be much good drive so from the passengers seat I requested a change in the radio she had on and she was quite emphatic that driver gets to choose. I drove back…

    I still remember the 86 Olympics in Atlanta for a week and when I got there I discovered that the guy who invited me just meant it as a suggestion for something I’d really enjoy and I never saw him the entire time I was there. I think I went with $1000 to buy Olympic tickets and be sure I’d not run dry but I went home with 1500 after buying and selling tickets to the stuff I wanted to see and filling my day from 6 am til midnight everyday before I took the train home

    I am about to launch into a new business mode with a startup or two and that will be solo entrapreneurship 101

    fun stuff

    I hear the next eclipses are in Barcelona egypt and Australia. I’m looking into it

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  12. People with dogs are usually pretty cool about stopping and letting you pet their pooch. I’mnot very good atmaking conversation, though. ”What’s your dog’sname?” is about all I can think of to say, then if they seem like they want to talk, we may have a chat. Otherwise we just move on.

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  13. I’m happy to talk with strangers. I have had some fun experiences striking up conversations with strangers on trains, buses, and airplanes. Two such conversations, in particular, were memorable.

    The first one was on a train from Seattle to Portland, where an older woman sitting across from me was wearing an extravagant hat. Over lunch in the dining care, she told me about her life, her adult kids, and her frequent travels by train while also carrying on a delightful repartee with the old, black porter who was serving us. She teasingly called him “boy” and he, in mock horror, exclaimed “oh no, Bella Abzug is back.”

    The other conversation was on a plane from Phoenix to Minneapolis. I was seated next to gentleman who for a while was perusing some architectural drawings. I noticed the name of the architectural firm on the drawing, and I asked him if he new an architect I knew who worked for that firm. Turned out he did. In fact, he had hired him. My seatmate was one the founding fathers of the firm. He knew that the young wife of the architect we both knew had recently died from ovarian cancer. I knew her through a cancer support group; we had the same oncologist. By the time we arrived in Minneapolis, I knew more personal information about this man than I did about some of my long-time acquaintances. His wife’s name, her date of birth (the same as mine), and the fact that we had other mutual friends.

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