A sudden gift of a day.

I don’t want to sound like a whiner but I will say this: Mother Nature doesn’t always play fair with me. I don’t get every weekend off like many (not all) do. I get every other weekend off because I work at a library and the library is open seven days a week! My weekends are special. We, at the library, look forward to our weekends like souls thirsty for rest and relaxation. Let’s be honest, very few of us get the above stated rest and relaxation because….laundry, dirty house, bills, meal prep for the week and chores! And here is where you will tell me to quit whining. But I will say it anyway. Most the time it RAINS ON MY DAYS OFF! Ok, now that’s out in the universe, let’s move on.

Today was different. I woke up after a restful sleep. The sun was bright and my reading chair was awash in its golden light. The sky was baby blue with pillowy clouds lazily floating by. The tree in my backyard is full of buds and the daffodil bulbs which we discarded from our flower patch in ignorance has bloomed at the edge of our yard. We threw them out there but they come back each year to put a smile on our faces. They bring me joy. There is something special about these exuberant, bright yellow flowers that inspire hope and happiness in me.

For me, they are the first signs of spring. The second sign is the sighting of ants in my bathroom. I think I have written in one of my blogs that the first appearance of ants make me happy. That means spring cannot be far behind. Oh stop with your cringing! I am from India, I have seen worse than ants. I get mad at them as summer progresses though.

I can not stand winter. I love spring because it is full of hope, sunshine, and longer daylights but spring also means I have endured another winter. Fall is beautiful too, but what follows Fall? Not so much. No matter how long I live in this country, I cannot get used to winter.

I wanted to keep this day in my memory. I nodded at the happy daffodils today, watched an amazing performance at a local theater and witnessed a spectacular sunset.

Simple joys.

The “goods”.

“Mom, are you seriously going to let Sahana take an Uber from the airport?” Ryan asked me last night, aghast at my non motherly gesture.

“Yes!! She is coming in at night. I will be in my pajamas with a book at that time. She is a big girl.” I replied nonchalantly.

It was obvious this response bothered 17 year old, new driver Ryan.

“I will pick her up. I will write to her.” He shook his head.

I could not stay home as Ryan drove to the airport. It was his first time and I wanted to be his co-pilot negotiating with Sahana where she was waiting to be picked up. As he drove and I chatted, I told him this was very nice of him. He said, “Well, she picked me up after my prom at 1 am. This is the least I can do.”

Sahana, understandably, was very pleased with her little brother for helping her save Uber money. She thanked him profusely. And as I listened to them chatter, I thought I have been building cathedrals all these years and now that I am getting close to seeing the whole structure, I like what Sean and I built.

I have given up writing about the ‘goods’ in my life due to laziness but I wanted this sweet act of paying kindness forward to live on my blogsite. These little moments, gestures create joys in life.

We look forward to inconvenience…

There was a new sidewalk being built on my way to work. That meant sign holders holding up STOP and SLOW signs when I was trying to get to work on time. The first time I discovered this, I was annoyed. I had not taken road work into account and there was a chance of me being late. I am that person who likes to arrive places at least 10 minutes early. On one such day, after waiting for the sign holder to change sign from STOP to SLOW, I inched my car forward to cross the area of road work cautiously. As I approached the sign holder, my grim face cracked a smile. The holder of the sign was a young man who enthusiastictically waved at each car that passed by. His face was animated, hopeful even that a fellow human would connect with him and wave back in reply. His happiness, for that is exactly what it looked like, was infectious and I found myself waving back cheerfully. The next day he was there and the following day as well with same infectious exuberance. I looked forward to the road block and his wave. One day Sahana was driving me to work. As the road work area got closer, I got ready for my daily moment of connection. And Sahana said, “I wonder if my friend is going to be here.”

It turns out, she was equally enamored by this young man’s enthusiasm to spread happiness by waving enthusiastically as he allowed cars to pass by. We both then exclaimed how we loved this little moment and how this simple gesture of a smile and a wave brightens our day. We both agreed we look forward to this inconvenience in our commute and isn’t that strange?

The side walk is complete now and our friend is not there anymore to hold up his sign. I don’t account for the small delay in my commute any more but I do miss the bright smile of my young friend as he waved to me from the other side of the road. I hope he is working on another project, spreading joy to another group of people. I also hope people are smiling back at him, making connections, seeing. I hope they are allowing him to be the bright spot in their days.

You are looking very handsome these days….

I have been giving Sean compliments for the last 4 days. Maybe I am noticing more, maybe the 10 day long break he took did wonders, maybe the sun hits him the right way illuminating the green in his eyes and highlighting his gorgeous smile, I don’t know why but he looks exceptionally handsome. So I told him that. There may have been some surprise in my voice when I told him, “You look very handsome.” He looked a little abashed and happy 😊.

Last night Sahana noticed it too. She exclaimed, “Dad, you look so fit. You look very handsome.” I found an ally!

“Doesn’t he? I have been telling him that. He looks very handsome these days.”

I gave both of them an arsenal.

“These days? He looks handsome these days? You did not think he was handsome before? Dad did you hear your wife?”

Sean jumped in, acting all aggrieved.

I tried to defend myself saying he was always handsome but he had started looking haggard with his intermittent fasting routine and too much exercise. Now he has just the right amount of weight and sleep. He looks fresh.

But I was not allowed to finish my sentence. They jumped on the word “haggard”.

“Wow, mom, you are digging yourself into a deeper hole. Haggard? You are calling your husband haggard? Dad how does that make you feel?”

Sean acted all hurt and said he did not want to talk about it. The more I wanted to defend myself, the more my words were twisted.

There is a mischief making demi God in Hindu mythology called Narad. He causes mischief and initiates quarrel among people. Sahana was Narad incarnate. The three of us laughed. I am documenting simple, every day joyful moments whenever I can.