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Not at the Same Time and Not at the Same Pace

I loved this park for the couple that passed me that day: an old man with his grandson riding a tricycle in front of him. The old man walked slowly, slowly (there’s time, there’s always time these days) from one end of the park to the other. The grandson was supposed to keep to his grandfather’s pace, but he was always at least two metres ahead. The boy stopped to observe a pair of lovers kissing on a bench. The grandfather stopped, he watched too. Eventually they set off again, but not at the same time and not at the same pace.

—Edward Carey, Observatory Mansions