Two Big Smiles

Yesterday I smiled a very big smile and did a double-take. Twice. The sun was warm and bright -- still a novelty in this remarkably wet 2011 we're having. As I drove the kiddos home from piano lessons with the windows down, the wind blowing and TobyMac serenading, we passed one of the most charming spectacles I've seen in quite some time. I desperately wanted to turn around and pass again, but we were behind schedule and I had to make do with a brief glance and my failing memory.

The sight? A woman, maybe in her seventies, making her way down the Padden Parkway footpath . . . in a Shetland pony-drawn cart. If ever I wished for my camera, it was at that moment. A long silver braid twisted down her back. She smiled in the warmth of the sun, content in the trot of her little pony and the rattle of her metal, basket-like carriage. Oh, my word, how I smiled. It was priceless.

You might have noticed that I said I smiled a very big smile twice on this day. That's because the pony lady wasn't the only one out enjoying the sun at a leisurely pace. Later, on our way to Drew's percussion class, we passed another buggy. As I approached from behind, I momentarily thought of those Mennonite carriages. You know, the little black things like Doc Baker or the Reverend Alden would drive. But smaller. With a big orange triangle reflector. But, in this case, the buggy was drawn by an aging gentlemen . . . on a large motorized tricycle. Silver and red tinsel-like streamers floated from the corners of his buggy as he crept up 164th. (Alas, the camera was still at home on my desk.)

I looked at Drew with mingled amusement and delight. He reassured me that I was not going crazy. Yes, that was an old man on a big tricycle and yes, this did happen on the very same sunny afternoon as the pony on the parkway incident. What was it about this day? I believe it was simply meant to delight. Some days just do that.