The one where I misunderstood...

On Monday afternoon I went for a nothing special 3 mile run. It was hot, it was humid, and I was running hills. It was a struggle but I got it done.  I wasn't even going to write about it but it always seems that I have some kind of story from my run at that park and when something odd happens at the park, you get to hear about it!

View from the bridge.

After my hot and humid run, I decided to take a cool down lap so I walked back up on the bridge and down to the park again. As I was on the bridge I saw a police vehicle drive down into the park.  I wondered if there was a reason they were entering the park or if it was just part of the patrol route like it sometimes is.  As I walked into the park and around the parking lot, I did not see the police vehicle, nor did I see it exit the park.  Okay, no big deal.

As I walked towards my car, I see this man violently tearing branches from shrubs out of the woods. What in the world is he doing. He throws the branches on the ground and then goes over and talks to someone in a white car. The guy was already standing there when I got to the parking lot so I don't know if he got out of that car or not.  I was quite disturbed that he just ripped those branches off and threw them down so I got in my car and tried to discreetly watch what he was doing.

My discreet photo.

The person in the car would back up and he would talk to the driver through the window and then the driver would pull forward.  The man would then go over and talk to the driver again. At this point I am assuming the driver is a female, but I don't know for sure.  I'm beginning to think that maybe there is an argument taking place but I can't hear what he is saying. His body language does not portray that of a hostile situation but why does he keep talking to the driver and why does she keep pulling forward and then backing up to talk to him again?  He keeps looking over at me and I pretend to fiddle with my Garmin.  I notice that he has a camo holster on his hip. Might that be a gun?  I admit I am a bit worried now. I should probably leave this situation. Where are those police officers that drove down here anyway?

The driver backs up again and runs over the branches, pulls up, and then backs over the branches again.  It is then that I see this situation from a new perspective. This man is teaching the women in the car to parallel park. He broke off branches from the shrubs and threw them on the ground so she could practice driving between them. I felt so relieved when I figured this out.  As I pulled out in my car and drove passed, I smiled and waved and he did the same.

By the amount of times that lady ran over the branches, it's safe to say she is going to need more than one lesson!

Like I said, never a dull moment when I run at the park. -M

Have you ever misread a situation like this?

                                         We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.