* There was a kid in Target the other day, sitting in a stroller beside his sister, and he was crying up a storm. Wailing, actually, might be a more accurate description. Their mom was pushing them and was just kind of ignoring the whole situation, which I guess is the thing to do these days. I glanced at the little boy — all that crying and screaming had turned his face a mottled pinkish-red and I thought to myself, “Wow, he’s kind of ugly.” Now I know you’re not supposed to think that about people, really, especially a poor kid, but… he was. I suddenly found myself avoiding another little kid who was running amok. I have no idea where the Amok kid’s parent was, but Amok swerved right in front of me coming to a dead stop in front of a display of bags of Easter marshmallows. The Wailer’s watery eyes followed Amok’s activity and all of a sudden his wailing stopped. His eyes got HUGE. He sniffled, hiccupped and said in a voice equally as loud as his wailing had been, “Mom? Does EVERYONE in the WHOLE world love marshmallows?” All of a sudden “kind of ugly” turned into “adorably cute.”
* Flowers are blooming. My Double Delight rose shrub (which I really, really need to learn how to properly prune, because I know it could produce SO MANY MORE ROSES) came out with the first rose of the season. A real beauty, with two more on the way.
* My first gardenia of the season made its appearance this weekend as well. It’s now on my desk at work, in front of the mini fan I’m running because the sick auditors are back in the building. Yes, that last sentence was unrelated to the happiness of flowers blooming, but it is so aggravating to have people who are sick come in the building and spread their germs.
* The star jasmine in my work’s parking lot, as well as all along the street where I work is gearing up for the spring show. I cannot wait!
* Fields of yellow flowers contrasted against a stormy dark blue sky.
* Greek Yogurt. I read somewhere that it’s actually healthier for you, with less sugar, than many of the other brand name yogurts out there. I tried a couple brands of Greek yogurt and found that I like The Greek Gods yogurt best of all. It’s thick, with the consistency of custard, and so incredibly delicious. Bonus: It hasn’t yet given me any adverse effects, not even a little. Maybe because it has probiotics?
* Not so thrilled with gas prices. You guys, my car is little. It has a gas tank that’s just over 11 gallons. This is how much I spent on gas the other day for my little bitty car at Costco – the cheapest place to get gas in these parts. I cannot even imagine how painful this would be if I had a big SUV.
A story in senses:
It was warm and dreamy, the weather was, this past weekend. We went over to Tony’s parent’s house for a bit of time on Sunday afternoon. After awhile, I went outside and the green grass beckoned me. Particularly a spot just on the other side of the big tree where the nephews were swinging back and forth with Tony’s strong pushes.
I twisted my hair up into a knot and laid down, using that hair knot for a pillow, and closed my eyes and just felt. I felt the sun on my skin, I felt the breeze, just as quickly, cooling my skin.
My ears became attuned and I heard cheering from a great mass of people, and laughter at a higher volume than the cheering… a game, then, down the hill at the high school. I became aware of the sound of a daisy wheel, the plastic clattering as it tried to spin as fast as the wind was blowing it… and then the sound of leaves, pattering against each other in the trees, all the way to the top.
Then, the sounds of various birds chirping and singing at each other added to the instruments that nature was playing, punctuated by the sharp chatters of hummingbirds.
And, finally, the begging of little nephew, Milo, to Uncle Tony, “Push me at Super Speed!” and his laughter as his request was granted.
Sun, laughter, cheering, breezes, leaves and birds… sometimes the best orchestra is one that nature creates.
Jammie J's Quest 