I have loved running along the malecón in Miraflores for years...
the ocean
the smell
the people
the flowers
It's just a perfect place to wake up...
Virtually every day that I have run, right past LarcoMar as you enter the next park...
He awaits...
I don't know his name,
but he's been there for years...
SMILING
CHEERING
SHAKING HANDS
LITERALLY KISSING BABIES
He is a slight man...
always smiling
with a toothless grin,
in his late 60s or 70s
a great tan ,
always barefoot
and a face full of white whiskers...
His smile is
pure
genuine
contagious...
He greets and cheers runners and walkers alike that pass his way...
wave
smile
fist bump
shout ou...
He seems so very happy to be alive,
and to be standing right there on that very spot...
leaning against the waist high brick wall...
he is never looking out at the ocean
but always looking in.. at the people.
So, today, on my run,
I stopped...
"Thank you for spreading your love so generously..."
I told him...
He said he loved being here.
"I live in Barranco (3/4 mile away), but I don't like the air there... it's not pure.
I come out here everyday from 5 am to 8 am...
to breathe!"
He said... his eyes in a kind grin.
I made some small talk..
"YES I work... I sweep the perimeter of the church in Barranco. A lot of smokers who disrespect the church and leave their butts. I clean them..."
He was a proud man. ..
A man with a purpose...
He keeps the church clean,
he breathes pure air,
and he spreads cheer and sunshine everyday...
Life can be so simple...
life can be so perfect...
if we choose it.
I told him I would be back to chat.
We hugged...
And I continued my sprint...
so much that I could learn from this wise and kind soul...
I thought...
tomorrow, I will ask his name...
for now...
I will continue to think of him as
white whiskers...
He is probably on his way to work...
barefoot,
smiling,
living...
in harmony,
Nestor