of a knee injury that he received almost two months ago.

However Johnny Barnes, 73, will be back at his old spot on Tuesday morning to greet rush hour traffic with his pleasant smile and waving arms after his family doctor gave him permission.

"Dr.(Ewart) Brown told me to rest my knee until then,'' he said. "He told me to take a rest for a week.'' And has he been resting? Mr. Barnes, who has been welcoming motorists to Hamilton for the past 20 years, has found solace in his verdant garden that rings his Valley Road, Paget home.

His trademark smile, warm handshake and easygoing exterior are very much evident but there is also a telltale limp as he moves about among his fruit trees.

"I still get up early (2.30 a.m.) but I just have nowhere to go,'' he says ruefully.

Mr. Barnes seems a little out of place here. He is better known as the wiry fountain of energy who blows kisses and waves to passing motorists at the Crow Lane roundabout.

But today the salty-bearded septuagenarian must take comfort that The Royal Gazette received several calls from people wanting to know how he is doing after he was not seen at his "post''.

His face expands into a wide grin when he is told of the inquiries into his health.

"Bless their souls,'' he says.

Mr. Barnes pulls up his right trouser leg above the knee to reveal the source of his complaint.

His knee is swollen and it looks painful, the outcome of a collision with the bumper of a car after a friend stopped to give him a lift.

Mr. Barnes usually walks from his home to the roundabout each morning, setting out at 4.20 a.m.

And on this day the driver wanted to do a good deed for Mr. Barnes. But as Mr.

Barnes walked around the car, the driver reversed, knocking him down.

"My leg became swollen quickly and I went to see Dr. Brown but he told me that no bones were broken,'' he added.

"Last Monday, the doctor gave me some shots and told me to stay off it for a week.'' Still, Mr. Barnes said his early morning rituals (up at 2.30 a.m., prayers and breakfast) are still the same but the farthest he now will go is to the garden until -- Tuesday.

Johnny will return But what keeps him going after all these many years? "When you accept Jesus into your life, you are duty bound to let your little light shine. The greatest thing in the world is L-O-V-E.

"If everyone in Bermuda tried to make sure someone else is happy, what a beautiful Bermuda this would be.''