- Joined
- Jul 24, 2009
- Messages
- 585
My dear wife and I live on a mountainside at 1000m, in a thinly populated, agricultural subdivision 25 minutes from the seaside town of Hilo, where we both have worked for decades. When the weather cooperates, its an awesome commute on a Commando; a smooth wide road through the woods with light traffic most of the way.
For years our nearest neighbor to the north has been Roger, a confirmed bachelor who runs a landscaping business and seems to spend a lot of time in the gym. People always speculated that he's gay, not that it would matter to us in the least; he's a great guy who after a big storm had laid two 20m cypress trees across our driveway in '04, was out there at dawn with a chainsaw and tractor before I could get out of bed, much less start my cranky old saw. He always reminded me that his uncle died on a Norton back in the '60s (thanks a lot!)
Well about that gay story, man when people are wrong they are really wrong; two years ago Roger hadn't been seen by anyone for a couple of weeks. Whenever we drove by his place, it was quiet and the gate was locked up. And then, out of the blue, he shows up with Maria, a Pinay beauty 20 years his junior, who he had met online, wooed, and then wed in the Philippines. Quiet and shy, but what a knockout!
Several months later we had Rog and Maria over for dinner; she had adjusted well to her new home and husband, they were happy newlyweds. She was quite bright and bubbly, and handled English fluently. As we all laughed and talked she told us how as a teen in the P.I. she rode a two stroke Yamaha dirt bike! In the coming weeks, she was enrolling at the university in town to study nursing (unusual vocation for a Filipina, hehe)
Well a year had gone by since our dinner together, we'd see them now and then, walking their dog, stop and have a few nice words… everyone is so busy!
At this time we were in a bit of a drought, and I was commuting with my Norton daily. Saving real money on gas and having fun at the same time. My usual schedule would have me getting on the road after both morning and evening "rush hour", arriving home up to an hour after dark, about 7pm in the winter.
One night, just a few miles from home, I could see something shadowy at the side of the road about 300 ft ahead. "great" I thought, "wild pig" as I braked and moved to the left, prepping myself for whatever could come next. Approaching, I saw that it wasn't a pig, but a man, dressed in all black, walking on the white line as if a circus performer on a tightrope. "Crazy asshole" I said as I accelerated past… besides destroying himself, he could have easily taken me as well. Immediately upon arriving home, I called 911 and reported what I had just seen.
Another week had past by uneventfully until one night on my ride up I was again just a few minutes from home. As I came over a big hill I could see two cop cars, blue lights flashing, and several other cars all at the side of the road. Being directed to the left and passing the scene I saw Rog's Honda coupe, almost in the ditch with the left front wheel a foot or so off the ground. Beneath was the man dressed in black.
Rog had been teaching Maria to drive, and as they were nearly home they saw the cops' flashing blue lights coming in the opposite direction, responding to a report of a man in black walking the white line. So Maria did what she was supposed to do, she pulled over to let them pass.
Understandably, the poor woman was devastated. After months of suffering PTSD, she returned to Cebu. On a bright note, Rog is in the process of selling everything, and plans to join her there in the not too distant future.
For years our nearest neighbor to the north has been Roger, a confirmed bachelor who runs a landscaping business and seems to spend a lot of time in the gym. People always speculated that he's gay, not that it would matter to us in the least; he's a great guy who after a big storm had laid two 20m cypress trees across our driveway in '04, was out there at dawn with a chainsaw and tractor before I could get out of bed, much less start my cranky old saw. He always reminded me that his uncle died on a Norton back in the '60s (thanks a lot!)
Well about that gay story, man when people are wrong they are really wrong; two years ago Roger hadn't been seen by anyone for a couple of weeks. Whenever we drove by his place, it was quiet and the gate was locked up. And then, out of the blue, he shows up with Maria, a Pinay beauty 20 years his junior, who he had met online, wooed, and then wed in the Philippines. Quiet and shy, but what a knockout!
Several months later we had Rog and Maria over for dinner; she had adjusted well to her new home and husband, they were happy newlyweds. She was quite bright and bubbly, and handled English fluently. As we all laughed and talked she told us how as a teen in the P.I. she rode a two stroke Yamaha dirt bike! In the coming weeks, she was enrolling at the university in town to study nursing (unusual vocation for a Filipina, hehe)
Well a year had gone by since our dinner together, we'd see them now and then, walking their dog, stop and have a few nice words… everyone is so busy!
At this time we were in a bit of a drought, and I was commuting with my Norton daily. Saving real money on gas and having fun at the same time. My usual schedule would have me getting on the road after both morning and evening "rush hour", arriving home up to an hour after dark, about 7pm in the winter.
One night, just a few miles from home, I could see something shadowy at the side of the road about 300 ft ahead. "great" I thought, "wild pig" as I braked and moved to the left, prepping myself for whatever could come next. Approaching, I saw that it wasn't a pig, but a man, dressed in all black, walking on the white line as if a circus performer on a tightrope. "Crazy asshole" I said as I accelerated past… besides destroying himself, he could have easily taken me as well. Immediately upon arriving home, I called 911 and reported what I had just seen.
Another week had past by uneventfully until one night on my ride up I was again just a few minutes from home. As I came over a big hill I could see two cop cars, blue lights flashing, and several other cars all at the side of the road. Being directed to the left and passing the scene I saw Rog's Honda coupe, almost in the ditch with the left front wheel a foot or so off the ground. Beneath was the man dressed in black.
Rog had been teaching Maria to drive, and as they were nearly home they saw the cops' flashing blue lights coming in the opposite direction, responding to a report of a man in black walking the white line. So Maria did what she was supposed to do, she pulled over to let them pass.
Understandably, the poor woman was devastated. After months of suffering PTSD, she returned to Cebu. On a bright note, Rog is in the process of selling everything, and plans to join her there in the not too distant future.
