So Very

At a distance, he looked old, bent, off-balance. Up close, not much changed about him, save for what he hauled on his back: a metal lawn chair.

It was loaded with a bed roll, a cooking pan and a canteen, that swung precariously from the left corner of the chair. He had fashioned a set of shoulder straps to the frame, which made his already gaunt body seem as if he were a walking skeleton.

“‘So-very-on-the-road,’” I thought.

Once home, I pulled out a lawn chair, set it in our yard, where I relaxed, feeling kingly and it promptly collapsed.