Pat and Mike.

July 28, Chesterland.

Pat and Mike joined the circus back in Massachusetts; she's been working in the office, he at the door. They'll soon be going back home to Mission, Texas, down in the Rio Grande valley, after a square dancing detour in South Carolina. They are retired school teachers, traveling the country in their RV, and they love the circus, so for a while they took a funky holiday on the road with Kelly Miller.
They are gregarious and easy-going. He favors cowboy boots and hats; she is a casual dresser, but neat and precise. To me they're the all-American grandparents.
Mike will give you a 'It's a beautiful day' greeting every morning.
I'm alive! he says, if pressed to elaborate in light of yet another rainy day in what has been a straining rainy season.