“Is he wearing two different colored socks?”

If you’ve ever read my writing, you know I love to take a photo and wonder, “What in the world is going on here?” This is one of those moments.

The big dog and I were half way through our early morning walk when we came across this gentleman watering his gardens. He just moved into this just build house. He immediately tore out the builder’s stock landscaping plants and must planted something new, otherwise he’s just watering the mulch.

But the thing that really caught my eye was his socks. I asked the big dog, “Is he wearing two different color socks?” Intentional? Accidental? I don’t know.

• I know that you’ve all got orphan socks at home. Dryers consume them so that we are left with drawers full of single socks with no partners. After a while, you just pull out two, knowing that you’ve got no matches.

• It could be a special sock for a special foot condition. Perhaps a clean, white sock (or a black one) is better for whatever toe ailment he is nursing.

• If you wake up before sunrise and don’t want to disturb other sleepers, you might pull out a mismatched pair in the dark. But most mismatched pairs would be blue-black, or colors not too different from one another. The contrast here would be difficult to miss, even in the darkest room.

• Maybe his partner is wearing the exact same pair, and he had no others to choose from.

• Some of my grandsons wear mismatched socks on purpose. They find certain color combinations appealing, especially when dressing in uniform for a sport.

I should have stopped and asked. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he doesn’t care. I know, maybe it’s none of my business.

But it’s fun to speculate.

Besides, black and white works, right? It works for cookies, zebras, newspapers, and photographic effects.