"He has bright green hair"

someone tells me. She is looking at me for an answer. Who is that person?

He was also wearing knee high lace up boots below a plain black kilt like skirt, a flannelette shirt, a masculine shoulder bag over one shoulder and yes...the almost fluorescent green hair. Yes, he stands out in a crowd. Yes, he is definitely "odd". 

He is merely an acquaintance of mine, the friend of someone I don't even know well. To the best of my knowledge he has never held down a proper job. He is quite a skilled artist of sorts. He once gave the Senior Cat a rather clever print he had made of a cow. Middle Cat has it now because, as she said, "It is rather a fun sort of thing." 

When he did that he was having an "up" phase. When he has a "down" phase nobody sees him apart from his friend, the one I know. She has checked on him for years now. He isn't "normal". He would be described as "mentally ill" by many people. 

I like to think of him as "different", just "different". He has always been extremely polite to me. On this last occasion I was unlocking my trike ready to pedal off when he came up the ramp and spoke to me. We shared a joke and a laugh. I don't ask personal questions of him. He will sometimes tell me things he wants me to know.

He was heading to the chemist for his medication. He was in an upbeat mode but he was looking at me and I saw something there that I don't see in other people. For all he dresses to stand out in the crowd it is not really the way he sees himself. He knows he is "different", that he doesn't really fit in with the rest of society. It has been easier since someone found him some proper accommodation.

"I've got a place of my own now, a proper place. There's a lot of light there...not the bedroom but there's a sort of living space with a kitchen bit and a bathroom. I've set my things up."

I tell him how good that sounds. I hope S..., who looks out for him, will find it a bit easier to do the amazing job she does.  He is half way to the chemist when the other person asks about him. I just say, "He's the friend of someone I know. He is kind and funny and I like him."

I don't tell her he is mentally ill. She can see for herself he is not like most people. I don't want to talk about that because, when he is up, he really is kind and funny and I am happy to be seen chatting to him.