Cemetery

A few years ago, an NPR story caught my attention. I found the subject very interesting. Apparently there are people who own trucks that they have modified to blow a large cloud of thick black exhaust on other cars. They call it coal rolling. Prius drivers are the number one target. Although fascinating, I also found it really disgusting that someone would go to the trouble to do such a thing. For some reason, I gave the idea a lot of thought and began to keep an eye out for a truck coal rolling a Prius. I wondered What a typical coal roller would be like? Are they all men, or do women roll coal too? I told a friend about this phenomenon and he told me he had been the victim of one of these truck drivers. He drives a Prius. I did see a pickup truck with a lot of black exhaust around it one time on the freeway. Maybe he had just done the dirty deed. The truck had a sign advertising electrical work. I wrote the number down, figuring I'd call and complain. I could totally imagine calling that phone number and having the driver answer. Then what? He'd probably laugh at me.

Amy and I drive through the nearby cemetery three or four times a week. It's a popular place and we usually see other people there. People riding bikes, walking dogs, jogging, visiting graves, cleaning up around graves, and other types of activities. it's usually quite peaceful with its dirt roads and forest. We are bird watching and looking for animals. It can be spectacular at times. We've seen a few foxes, a coyote, Blue Heron, and quite a few hawks. sometimes, we just see squirrels and deer. As we were driving through early one evening, we saw a man walking. He looked to be in his early eighties. He wore a sweatshirt, khaki pants, and tennis shoes. He had a kind of sweet but sad smile. When he got closer, we exchanged hellos. He seemed like a nice person. We talked for a few minutes. We introduced ourselves. His name was Gerald. He told us that he lived a few blocks from the cemetery and he came everyday to visit his dear wife who was buried there. She died seven years ago. He had this look on his face. He seemed to be smiling, but sharing his story obviously brought back memories. He was such a nice person and his story just made us feel very happy. We talked some more and we told him about the nice fox that we are always hoping to find again. We said goodbye and that we'd probably see him again sometime. Amy and I were both glowing as we slowly pulled away from him. He was just a little behind the car when Amy looked at me and said, coal roll him!