The Good Evening Path

I went for a walk again, with my scruffy black bag containing a bottle of water, a large text King James Bible (which I carry just in case), and some small stuff.

It's a nice walk and I generally do the same one, out of habit and obsession.

After a while, the road peters out in a shady lane with a few splendid houses as I approach the park. Greetings can start here, because anyone I meet is probably just walking for the sake of it. If I do catch someone's eye in this lead-in section, I say "Alright" or just smile and nod, with my lips tightly closed in a sort of conspiratorial grimace. I suppose. 

Then, I get into a proper path through the woods, and this is the Good Evening Path, because anyone I encounter along here is likely to qualify for "Good Evening" or, if they are younger, just "Evening", because ellipsis is fashionable.

I don't greet indiscriminately. Only walkers. Two weeks ago I met a couple of shifty looking men with scabbed faces and smokes. They looked as though they had some business to attend to, so I just nodded and even looked back a couple of times just in case. I didn't care to chat, also because they were two and I was alone, as always. Anyway, there weren't the "good evening" type of person - I could tell.