My surprise trail buddy was a student's dad

I was hiking the Pine Creek Loop yesterday when a sudden storm hit. I ducked under a rocky ledge and bumped into another hiker trying to stay dry. We got to chatting, and he mentioned seeing me at the school's open house last month. It clicked that he's the father of a kid in my seventh grade class. We spent the next half hour talking about local wildflowers his daughter loves. It felt strange at first, but it made the wait for the rain to stop way better.

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_nguyen6d ago

So did his daughter get a kick out of hearing you guys met up like that? I ran into my neighbor at the car parts store last week, which is weird 'cause we usually just wave from our yards... ended up talking for twenty minutes about his project truck. It's so different when you see people out of their normal spot, makes the whole chat feel easier somehow.

ward.jason6d ago

Did you find yourself slipping into teacher mode, or did you keep it strictly about the trail and wildflowers? I'm curious if knowing he was a dad made you overthink what you said. Bet it was still nicer than making small talk in the school hallway. So, did the rain stopping feel like a relief or did you kinda wish the chat lasted longer?

mark7235h ago

Honestly, the teacher mode thing is way overblown. Knowing he was a dad just made it a normal chat between two adults. And the rain stopping was perfect timing, I was ready to get moving again.