19 Oct Joyful Journeys
The recipe I am making for dinner calls for a garnish of thin apple slices. Hoping to find an apple, I search the refrigerator and bowl of fruit on the counter, but to no avail. I know the decorative slices of apple aren’t necessary, but I like the way they look in the recipe picture.
Deciding to make a trip to the store, I find myself waiting at a red light. There is a bright yellow car next to me. The windows are rolled down. The driver, singing along to the song “Here Comes the Sun” gives me a friendly wave, and I wave back. When the light turns green, I watch the driver’s fingers roller-coaster happily against the wind.
Upon arriving at the store, I overhear a man talking on his phone. He is asking someone if they want a pint of chocolate chip ice cream. “Okay, I’ll get sprinkles, too,” he says, laughing as he heads toward the frozen foods aisle.
I stand before the stack of shiny green apples, trying to decide which one to choose. Nearby, a little girl dressed in a Disney princess costume and soccer cleats faces a similar dilemma with tiny pumpkins. She picks one without a stem and with a bruised spot, worrying that no one else will choose it. I tell her she has a kind heart, and she thanks me. I think to myself that a story about loving the things that are imperfect would make a good blog post.
I select an apple and carry it to the checkout in my hand. The woman in front of me is gently rocking a stroller back and forth with one hand and holding a shopping basket in her other. I help her put her basket on the conveyor belt and, as I do, I glance into the stroller expecting to see a napping baby. Instead, there is a dog wearing a pink sparkly sweater. The woman tells me it’s the dog’s birthday and she’s making her a cake. I wish the dog a very happy birthday.
As I drive home with the apple gently rolling around on the seat next to me, I am reminded of an essay by Kurt Vonnegut in his last book. He was looking for an envelope but didn’t have one. His wife questioned his decision to go out for just one envelope and suggested he buy them online and have them delivered instead.
He went out anyway, deciding he was going to have a great time on his envelope-buying adventure. During his errand, he talked and laughed with people. He observed life moving around him. He gave a fire engine a thumbs up. He inquired about someone’s hurt foot. Then he fed the envelope into a big blue postal box that he thought looked like a bullfrog. As the envelope disappeared, he imagined the postal box saying, “Ribbit.”
He then returned home and reflected on how much fun he had in this simple outing.
It is lovely to be able to go out and delight in life unfolding all around us.