“We meet again”

—“Are you who I think you might be?” I asked a pretty young jogger on Lehigh Valley RailTrail this morning as she stopped to talk to me.
“Yes I am!” she smiled.
There you have it readers: the reason I always walk that rail-trail. The same pretty young jogger who smiled at me a couple months ago.
“WOW!” I thought to myself. “I thought I’d never see you again in a million years!”
I didn’t say that, but wish I had.
“Unbelievable,” I shouted. And “happy to see ya!”
We talked a little about trail conditions. ICY here and there, but no YakTrax® or cross-country ski-poles. 70+°.
She jogs with heavily-treaded running shoes.
Talk-talk-talk-talkity-talk, punctuated by smile-smile-smile-smility-smile, and twinkling eyes.
“You saw that ice down there,” I said.
What I also shoulda said is “4-6 months ago I struck up a conversation with you and you were thrilled.
A guy (me) who wanted to talk to you, but wasn’t hitting on you.
You could actually talk to a guy without protecting yourself.
I told you I was so glad I struck up a conversation with you; that striking up a conversation always works.
We really struck sparks.
You hoped we’d meet again, and we did.
That months-ago encounter was so successful I came away more likely to strike up a conversation, especially with a pretty girl.
That tells the girl she attracted me enough to say something to her, but not ‘how ‘bout it, honey?’
She likes that; and that’s a real ‘like,’ not a Facebook ‘like.’”
What a JOY to meet that pretty jogger again, and totally unexpected.
The girl who started me striking up so many conversations — befriending so many pretty girls.