It Means So Much

I sometime feel a bit off kilter

I love this picture painted by my Mom, serenity

Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.                                                                                    Benjamin Franklin

Rumor has it that we age every day. Sometimes looking in the mirror we realize that perhaps, just perhaps, we are not as attractive as we once were. One of my sons, age 16, pointed this out to me many years ago. He was looking at an family photo album when he came upon a picture of me in college. He stopped, looked up and with utter sincerity said, "Mom, you used to be really good looking!" I said, "Used to be?!" and he repeated himself with emphasis on the "used to be". This young man is know for his kindness, what he said in his mind was a compliment and a current observation. Sigh. 

Another wicked rumor is that and we're all going to eventually die. So my friends we need to make the most of today, revel in life and as my sister says, "carpe them diems". Seizing upon this though and knowing that this the last gasps of summer, we took a mini vacation and had a delightful day yesterday. It ended in a lovely encounter.

My husband and I hopped on our bikes and jumped on the ferry to ride around on another small island. Enroute we encountered a couple of humpbacked whales and sat with two good friends on the ferry enjoying the trip. And this wasn't, for me, the high point of the journey. 

 We then biked about twenty miles through forests and next to beaches grateful for the smoke free experience. Forest fires are still raging in the NW but our area is finally free of the smoke. After our ride we stopped off at a small general store on the island that also served lunch. Reuben sandwich for me, [I tend to only order things in a restaurant that I would never make at home], my husband had the seafood chowder and a salad and we split the lot between us. A delightful repast. That wasn't the high point either.   Waiting for the tiny ferry to take us back to the mainland was a good time to reflect on the ride, the views, the trees we encountered. Lovely but still not the high point.

We barely made it back to our own ferry, within minutes of departure. Upstairs on the ferry we plunked ourselves down, and sat separately because I like sitting in the sun and Mr. G finds it hot and annoying. After awhile, I too was cooking and went over to him and said, "I'm going for a stroll, care to join me?" "No, I'm pretty comfortable here...have at it." So I did my perambulation around deck on the outside of the ferry, quite breezy but it felt just great on this beautiful warm day amid the azure sky, lightly clouded with the abundant seagulls whirling overhead. That was not the high point either. 

The ferry ride almost at an end, I came back to my booth and was sitting reading my magazine when a lovely older woman [an older woman is defined as anyone at least 10 years older than me], came up to me. "Is that your husband?" she said pointing to Mr.G in the booth across the way. "Yes he is." Smiling warmly she said, "I just want to tell you that he looked at you twice." I took both of her hands in mine, now both of us smiling. This gracious woman knew how much it would mean to me that behind my back, and without my knowledge, my husband was giving me an appreciative once over, or in this case twice over. I thanked her profusely for her kindness. And that my friends was the highlight of a perfect day. 

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?          Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This simple interaction took less than two minutes but I'll tell you I can't wait to pay it forward. It's widely touted to do simple acts, random acts, of kindness. What is rarely talked about is being on the receiving end. It was the highlight and when I told Mr. G what she said, he doesn't blush, but he smiled and looked down on me [he is more that a foot taller than me] with such love. 

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