Actually had a pretty good day today. An old friend who I
haven’t talked with in a while called me and we talked a bit, and I had my
first glimpse at all my classes this semester. Some will suck but that’s life.
Anyway, a couple of things happened today that made me take
note of the little things. I’ve mentioned it before, but I think that too often
we are so focused on ourselves and our personal hang-ups that we forget to
experience life and observe things out in the world. I don’t know if it’s an overemphasis
on the personal, but you’d be surprised at how much world is out there if you
looked around once in a while.
I don’t know why, but I always smile when I see a sleeping
dog. Boomer has this habit of sleeping in each morning and he isn’t a morning
dog. At night he can be quite energetic but in the mornings he’s kind of surely.
But I find this to be one of his humor able traits and have often snapped a
quick photo should I catch him doing it.
My first class ended at 9:15 this morning, and my next one
didn’t begin till 12:30. Since it was so early and since I hadn’t eaten
anything yet, I decided to head over to Bob Evans Restaurant to get something.
While there I came to the conclusion that it should be a weekly ritual for me.
I enjoy the food and have ample time for it.
While I was there this morning, an elderly man came in, and
shortly afterward, his wife came in with, I can only assume, was his young granddaughter.
Both of the adults were completely into whatever the granddaughter was into.
She was quite cute, to be sure, and they all acted like a commercial of a great
family out enjoying breakfast. Both grandparents genuinely enjoying the company
of their granddaughter and she, likewise having a great time with her
grandparents. It was a Rockwell painting if there ever was one.
Later, when I was walking to my 12:30 class, I came upon a squirrel
on campus. It’s not an unusual sight as they’re all over the place, but this squirrel
was trying his hardest to run with an acorn in his mouth. Like in the movie Ice
Age, this was, apparently the most important thing to this particular squirrel,
because as he ran past me, he darted for a tree but apparently missed and ran
head first into the tree instead of climbing it. But what was funny was that,
in spite of his colliding with the tree, he managed to hold on to the acorn in his
mouth. That’s dedication.
And
just now, a friend of mine posted a great picture of her and her son on
Facebook. Her son is physically disabled and they have to go to the hospital for various things. While there, she said that he likes to go by this one
section where the windows are multiple colors, much like a television screen.
She mentioned it was his favorite place in the hospital because he likes looking
at all the colors. Again, a great moment that made me smile. . I’d share it with you but I don’t have permission to post
it.
I guess my point is, sometimes there are things in the
world that amuse us, or cause us to smile. For me it’s sights like these. Even
if I’m having a bad day, I try to remember them and see them in my mind.
Perhaps it’s something we all need to so once in a while. Just observe. You’d
be surprised how much of the world there is that you miss, if you never get out
in it.
