An Ordinary Evening Stroll

After sewing vests for three days straight (helping DeMara with costumes for the MHCC musical), I couldn't wait to get out of the house this evening. I seized the opportunity to walk to the library and return all of the books that I'm not going to be able to read before I leave for Ecuador. After having been shackled to my sewing machine for days (okay, not really), all my senses were alive and attentive to the myriad sights, smells, sounds and sensations of the utterly ordinary, made noticeable simply by being noticed. Here are some of my "noticings" of my 12-block stroll to and from the library:

~ The ever-so-slightly heavy, damp feeling of the air under a sky that's been thinking of rain. Each lungful a truly refreshing experience.

~ The sharp and insistent call of a bird hiding in a tangle of branches.

~ The heavenly jasmine-like scent of a plant with dark green leaves and clusters of small, purple and white star-shaped flowers. Partial redemption for the townhouse developer.

~ A small boy trotting to keep up with his father, asking him eagerly if he's looking forward to going to the sushi restaurant. The father, exhaling cigarette smoke away from the boy, responding enthusiastically, "yeah, that'll be great!"

~ A slightly larger small boy painstakingly dragging a large, flat box up the stairs to his house, followed by his patient mother who knows better than to offer to help.

~ A woman sitting in her yard filling a bucket with weeds, despite the fact that the sun set an hour ago, oblivious to the fact that she is weeding in the dark. Her door is open, as if she just stepped out for a moment, though it's clear she's been out for hours.

~ A teenage girl in a pink striped shirt practicing the piano by the bay window in her living room, the notes drifting gently into the evening.

~ A vibrant painting of a happy couple, proudly displayed in the living room, visible through the half-open front door.

~ Clouds dappling the sky, in the post-twilight mirage that tricks the eyes into thinking the clouds are sky and vice versa.