The Professor and Scout

Every morning as I drive to work, I see the early joggers and walkers along Rimrock. Some I see every day for a week and then never again. Some I see more consistently than that. I see the sports seasons change with whatever team is conditioning on what seems to be one of Billings' official joggers-road. I have traveled this road every weekday morning for over four years and there is one person I have seen consistently. I have no idea who he is, but he is a man probably about in his 60s. Ever since I noticed him in the mornings, I've been making up stories about him. I try to assess his personality from just watching how he walks. He's obviously a very disciplined person to get up almost every day for (at least) four years to go for his morning walk. It's not a short walk either! I've seen him anywhere between about a 2 1/2 mile stretch of the road. Since he is so regimented and he obviously enjoys time to himself with his thoughts, I have determined that he is either a history or a literature professor at one of the colleges in town. He has to be. Forevermore, in my head, he will be dubbed "The Professor".

I couple years ago, I noticed a tiny little puppy started walking alongside him. He seemed so proud of his new collar and leash and kept looking up in complete adoration at the professor as they walked. The puppy grew up quickly and soon grew a long coat of black, white and brown. It was glaringly obvious that the puppy's name had to be Scout. Trust me on this one. Now the dog is full grown and a natural heeler to his master Although he doesn't technically need the leash attached to his now worn collar, the professor faithfully ties the leash around his waste every morning and allows Scout to join him on the walk. And everyday, I still see Scout look up adoringly at the professor as they walk.

They are part of my morning. Even Jerod has learned to look for them and point them out to me on days that we carpool Sometimes I get the urge to pullover and strike up a conversation with the professor as I pat Scout's head. But, I'd probably be quickly disillusioned. He would probably end up being something boring like a retired chemical engineer and Scout is probably actually named something lame like 'Skip' or 'Bandit'.

Plus, he'd probably think I was pretty weird if I tell him I've been "watching" him for four years. Yeah, perhaps I should just remain in my delusions.