A Good Reminder

I took a brief trip to York, Nebraska Sunday afternoon, spent the night there, and came back home yesterday.  The purpose of the trip was to interview a young man attending the college there so see if he would be a good candidate for our summer intern slot we have open at our church.
While there, I spent the night with some friends in their older, two-story home.  Monday morning, after getting up, doing the bathroom routine, and taking a cup of coffee from the kitchen, I stepped onto the front porch in their quiet neighborhood.  It was cloudy and cool, and there was little traffic in that part of town.  A couple of robins were singing, and one of the ever-present trains was rumbling through town several blocks to the north.
About that time, a couple houses down the block and on the other side of the street, the front door opened.  A man stepped out, went over on his porch and picked up an American flag.  He unfurled it and placed it into the standard on the side of his porch.  He looked at it for just a second, then turned and saw me.
He looked for a couple of seconds, and I looked for just a few seconds, mostly unconcerned about the man.  After all, I didn’t live here…I was just visiting.  I happened to glance his way again, and he waved at me.  Immediately feeling a little guilty, I waved back at him and he went back inside.
In just a little over a year living in Topeka, I’ve forgotten what it is like to live in a small town where people make contact with others every day, just like that man did to me.  He most likely knew that I was a visitor.  The different vehicle was in the driveway, and he probably keeps pretty good tabs on his neighborhood.  But he waved anyway.
Whoever he was, I’m glad he waved.  He made me to recall that we aren’t islands.  We don’t live alone.