Air dry

April 13, 2020 | DeKalb | 60-69 years

I was in India with my wife walking on an ancient stone path along a river. The path was fine for a while, but then it neared the river and we could see the river had risen and was washing over parts of the path.

The stones were slippery and it felt dangerous because if you fell into the river, you'd be washed away in the swift current. I took it slow. Soon I saw a man in a white suit coming from the other direction. Very smoothly, calmly, as if there was no chance of his slipping on the rocks. He stared at me, at my hands. A hard look.

I had touched something in the water earlier. I can't recall what, but my hands were still wet, and grass clinging to my flesh. Staring at my hands, he said "This is a respiratory disease, you know!"

I told him I knew, and kept walking, not knowing what to do with my hands. Do I wipe them on my clothing? Or will that make it worse? I decided to let the air dry my hands and kept following the rocky path