Is this what normal feels like?

 

Ok, so, this is not much really to brag about, but I was out walking this evening. Yes.... and? And as I was about to turn the corner onto my street I spied a woman walking a dog, headed in the direction I was going. She waved to me and I waved back. Eventually, she stopped for a minute and I caught up with her. I said hi, she said hi and pretty soon we were having a conversation about bats, dogs, squirrels and other neighborly stuff. She said she lived on Loma Rica Rd., my back side neighbor, as she called it.

She told me she was a teacher who usually worked late, but was going to make a practice out of walking her dogs in the evening. The one she was walking this evening was a young German shepherd with huge ears and looked to already be the size of a small pony. We walked together for most of the length of the street until we reached my house where we said our goodbyes. 

I introduced myself, "This is me. I'm Andrew. " She said her name was Lisa. She even asked me my name twice, like she intended to remember it.

So, what I'm congratulating myself about was that I could carry on a conversation with a woman whom I had just met, and it felt natural. I didn't have the awkward, jittery feeling I always get, as if I'm expected to perform in some capacity. We were just two people out on our walks, deciding to sync up for minute and exchange pleasantries. 

And for whatever reason I didn't come off as a weirdo or a creep, just a normal guy out for a walk in the evening. If anything she was the weirdo, talking about her love of bats. But I can't fault her for being a little batty. Bats are helpful creatures, and we live in the country, so you get familiar with your beneficial critters.

That's it. That's my story. I could give some credit to my recent chats with _______ for maybe breaking me out of my isolation and interacting with another person. But that's the internet, and I'm usually more confident in a writing capacity than I am speaking to women in person. 

Anyway, yay me. Talking to people and stuff. I'm guessing she's probably married, and that's ok. I'm not looking to start something. It just felt good to be acknowledged and to have an interaction that didn't feel forced or weird. It felt normal, which actually feels weird to me, but in a good way.