I walked inside and sat down in a chair. Les was there. I knew he would be. He’s always been good at listening and offering advice.

He was standing and ready to serve me as he nodded a “hello.” He wiped his hands on a small towel, flexed the muscles in his fingers, and then asked, “What will you have today?”

“Oh, give me the usual,” I replied. Les understood. We’ve known each other since our high school days. “Make it look like it looked two weeks and two days ago.”

He flopped a cape around me, adjusted the angle of my head and lifted his arms like an orchestra conductor. Holding a comb in his left hand and scissors in his right, he was ready to let the music begin.

As he trimmed my hair, I said, “My wife and I have been married for almost 57 years. We dated three years before then.” Les knew that, but just for the record, I told him anyway. “We’ve enjoyed wonderful conversations. In fact, I first felt attracted to her during an early conversation.”

I told Les about the time almost sixty years ago when she and I sat together on a school bus going to an away ballgame. “It was as if we were alone together in a crowd. We were just two kids, talking and laughing with one another on a crowded bus. She and I have talked about everything we know to talk about through the years. We need something new to discuss. Give me some ideas, Les. What do you hear from the folks who sit in this chair?”

“Well, let me think,” Les responded. “I’ve been cutting hair for 58 years and lots of my customers are getting old now. They often talk about their aches and pains—health issues.”

“Yeah, that’s nothing new for us. We cover that almost daily. What else can you suggest?”

“Sometimes there’s talk of marital relationships—what’s working and what’s not. I listen but rarely give advice. Mostly, people just want me to listen, so that’s what I do.

“People complain about the prices of gas, food, and insurance. They talk about cruises and vacations and plans they are making.” Les added, “Church stuff has also been part of the conversations.”

“Yes, we have talked about all those, too. What else have you heard?”

“There have been talks about dealing with the elderly—some funny experiences and some not.”

I was a bit disappointed. I had hoped Les could inspire my wife and I to explore something new. All he had heard from his chair seemed to be common subjects.

“Well, there’s one fellow who always talks about growing award-winning pumpkins. He enters his pumpkins in shows and fairs. Been successful! He’s always talking about how to grow them according to temperature, water, and—”

I stopped him there. “I don’t recall my wife and I ever talked about pumpkins.”

Finally, we had a new subject to consider. We could discuss soil and seeds and space and insects and weeds—enough for weeks of conversation. By October, we could move on to pumpkin pie and jack-o’-lanterns.

At last—something new to talk about!