Dad's Shoe Laces

Dad went fishing on the Little Lehigh river in the Lehigh Parkway by the Stone Bridge.  He changed from his sneakers to his hip boots, leaving his running shoes next to the bridge.   As Dad walked downstream,  he said "hello" to Carl the Bum, in his mid-twenties.  Some of my school mates called him "Wild Boy."  The homeless man's clothing were in tatters in toe with his post-arrest Unabomber hair doo.

As middle school students,  when we crossed the bridge,  we dropped coins to Carl.  On the weekends,  Carl bought booze for high school students for a fee.  Carl was pleasant enough, engaged in conversation and laughed when appropriate.

After two hours of fishing,  Dad returned to the Stone Bridge to change from hip boots to sneakers and noticed,  the shoe laces were missing.  How civil of Carl the Bum to not steal the sneakers;  Dad replaced the missing laces after dinner.