Having lived in and out of the same Capitol Hill neighborhood for so many years, Dre and I have a few local characters who are our absolute favorites. So, imagine our glee when we realized that one of our favorite folks lives right across the street from us!

This guy is probably in his 50s. Sort of an aging hippie fellow, small build, shoulder-length bushy gray hair, long beard, wire rimmed glasses. He wears Mexican peasant skirts (you know, the kind with a bell-tipped drawstring around the waste), tennis shoes, and both a fanny pack and a backpack. You can always hear him coming from the jingle-jingle of his skirts, and he always seems to be in a bit of a rush, hustling here and there.

We assumed him just to be your average aging hippie dude, until a few years ago we saw him with his boyfriend. Aging hippie dude was on a leash, being led around by an enormous leather clad bear with a riding crop. We’ve seen them out together numerous times since. The little bushy-haired tinkly-skirted hippie guy, and his enormous burly daddy. They make quite a pair.