Thursday 15 November 2012

The Traveller

We saw him again today.  I think I have told you about him before.  We see him roughly every 6 - 8 months perhaps, usually walking northwards; somehow we miss his southerly journey, and we are probably not catching him every time he goes north.

Tonight I dropped the YFG off at her piano lesson with her friend and decided to take the EFG and head further north than we usually go, to a town which has an Aldi.  I wanted to get one of their four-bird-roasts for Christmas as I have heard very good things about them.  It was definitely getting dark, just after 4pm, and all of a sudden, we caught sight of him on the other side of the road, facing the southbound traffic.  

Now he is wearing a high visibility coat [thank goodness] and he is carrying bags, just a couple, but that is more than he had last time we saw him - perhaps someone has given him a blanket, or he has bought one somewhere....

By the time we returned along the road at about 5.15pm, he was nowhere to be seen, and we both wondered where he could have gone - has he holed up in a shed somewhere for the night, has he reached a destination somewhere in that area, has someone given him a bed for the night?  We had bought some food that we could have given him if we had found him again, but of course, we don't know if he would have accepted it.

He is an older gentleman of the road, with a grey beard and a weather beaten face. 
He feels to me like a Fenlander, at home on the road, travelling where he will, and answerable to no one.  He is mysterious and intriguing, and I would love to know his story, but I don't suppose we ever will.  Each time I see him, I am glad that he is still here, alive and walking, but I do wonder where he goes.

6 comments:

Mrs. Mac said...

What a mystery man! And a good little story you have written about him. It does make one wonder where he goes to and from his journey.

Angela said...

Currently in Norfolk - there is a guy who REGULARLY walks the byways round here matching your description - we call him Hi-Viz man. Now I am wondering if when he is absent here he is treading fenland paths?

Swanton Morley not a million miles from you after all!

blessings x

Fay McKenzie said...

I think its nice that you notice him and lovely to hear you're a part of his story.

I wonder (aside the cold) what it would be like to travel like that?

Morgan said...

@Angela - indeed and there would be no southerly journey for us to miss if he is walking in a loop...

Angela said...

10.45 am, today saturday 18th november, walking eastwards on A47 just this side of Kings Lynn. But we werent sure if it was same Hi Viz man or not!!

Morgan said...

@Angela - sounds like that could have been my Traveller! How lovely that someone else has seen him too - thanks for letting me know xxx