This start is humble, but off we go nevertheless...
A warm breeze pushes my skin this morning while I walk. The dog and I are going for a little over two miles, just enough to work off whatever chocolate might beckon later today. It's a regular thing, walking at the park after the kids are dropped at school, but it hasn't gotten old. It's just a nice place with a couple of playgrounds and acres shaded by old pecan trees. Squirrels crowd just out of reach of a six foot leash and the old folks feed them by hand. Boston the dog rescues toddlers from aggressive geese.
A few weeks ago, I stopped taking my earphones.
I just walk and listen and say, "Good mornin" to the people who pass on the sidewalk.
It makes me strangely happy.
The route I like best runs along Soldier Creek. A third of a mile down, the sidewalk enters a tunnel of trees. This is the best part. Off to the side, a man with a sleek, spoiled doberman stands fallen tree limbs up in the shape of a massive teepee. Vines wrap around it and hold it together. His dog watches as he works. The first teepee appeared over the course of a week or two and he has started on his second. I hope fervently that no one takes them down or tells him to stop. I hope they just let it be.
Some of the regulars are missing today. Winston-who-gives-sniffems and his man aren't there. The snarly terrier must be grounded for her bad behavior. Callie the Yorkie is at home or late but the shy Aussie with one blue eye greets Boston sweetly.
Blue Jays call, the breeze rattles cottonwood leaves and one baby squirrel makes what I can only describe as "tiny noise" at the edge of the creek. He is so stinkin' cute its just unbelievable.
The peace is shattered.
Whooping, over and over from up the hill. WHOOPING, I say! Like a crazed teenager jumping off a bridge or an entire football team celebrating after a touchdown. WHOOPING!
A blue tractor flies through an empty parking lot, its big scooper thing raised and a man sitting in the seat, whooping like someone who just won the lottery.
Unnecessary judgments push into my mind.
Is that man drunk?
He sounds happy.
Someone should call the city.
Someone should let him be.
What's wrong with him? He could...
be grateful for his very life today?
Glass half empty, glass half full. Choose this day the glass from which you will drink.
As for me and my house, we will choose the glass half full, even if it comes riding in the scoopy thing on the front of a blue tractor.
...singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...Ephesians 5:19-20
finding good today,
m
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