Yesterday afternoon I made a “quick” trip to the market. I put quick in quotation marks because loading up and unloading baby means nothing is quick anymore. Anyways, the market is about 3.5 miles from my house and yet I came across such wonderful sights that it warmed me from the inside, which was nice because today’s been a crummy day, weather-wise. Here’s what I saw (and I really wish I had pictures to share):
A full-on, complete huge rainbow spanning the Irvine sky. I was able to see all ROYGBIV colors and it popped so nicely against the cloudy backdrop. It got me thinking about how such a chance, unintentional thing can bring so much liveliness. I saw a woman in the car in front of me taking a picture of it with her cell phone. No one made that rainbow. It just happened. With no intention of doing anything to or for anyone. And on the other side of the sky, the beautiful blue sky was peeking out and the sun was backlighting the gray and it was just so nice. Along with the idea of the rain washing away smog and bathing the plants, it left me with a feeling of well being.
The high school let out and there were teenagers everywhere. Sometimes this is uber-annoying but today I saw this young girl doing a cute little shuffle dance while waiting for the light to change colors. At the same time she was eating something with a spoon out of a bowl, talking to a cute boy. They kept kind of smiling and talking. He seemed slightly amused by her dancing. So I have no reason not to believe that they are secretly in love. And they have a beautiful puppy love story for the rest of the school year. It made my heart ache to be fifteen again because that energetic girl easily could have been me. Just happy. Simply happy.
But then my little baby starting making her sweet little noises in the backseat and I was instantly reminded of why I’m sorta glad I’m not fifteen anymore. Teenage years = no baby o’mine. She was over the top cute in her little hooded jacket today.
I turned our cart into the baking aisle and there were two gals looking intensely at the shelves, next to each other. I don’t believe they were together. One looked like she was in college. The other was grandma aged. In my mind they both had the same goal: I want to make an awesome Christmas treat. Didn’t matter that they were probably 45 years apart in age. I was smack dab in the middle, age-wise and I found myself wanting to make something awesome for my family too. To some degree we’re all the same.
After a morning of cold, wet rain and hauling the baby in and out of the car a few times, juggling the stroller/umbrella, etc., on top of the unpleasant diaper situation we’ve been in for the last couple days, this was a nice little five minute trip that reminded me why I’m happy to be alive. What did you see today that made you smile?