Unexpected. Seen on the sidewalk in Chelsea.

After work, as I headed in the direction of the subway station, navigating through the sea of pedestrians with single minded focus, I suddenly became aware of the growling. 

Looking around, it wasn’t long before I zeroed in on the source.  Off to the side, several steps ahead of me on the sidewalk, moving at a slower pace, was a little boy and his male guardian. And as I watched him alternate between clutching and attacking the left leg of his very amused guardian, I heard this little boy growling.  And then, as if upping the ante for the unexpected, when I passed them on their left side, I looked over and saw that the little boy’s facial features were completely obscured.  Because he was wearing what looked like a dinosaur mask! Talk about commitment to play! Everything about the experience was just so unexpected and delightful, I couldn’t help but laugh 😂 

Added bonus for me:  As I finished writing this, it literally popped into my head that earlier this morning, before leaving for work, I wrote in my journal and randomly asked for delightful moments of magical realism in my today. 

I kinda feel like I got it with this🙃😊

An Encounter on the Streets in Chelsea

I’d just gotten off work and was making my way to the subway station. It was pleasant enough weather— a noticeable enough reprieve from the cold bite of winter of the last few days. I was a bit in my own world, enjoying the weather and giving audience to the thoughts in my head. So it took an extended moment to fully click back into consciousness when I registered something also traveling on foot in my periphery.

A teeny, tiny mouse. 

He, or, perhaps, she, had a light grey coat of fur, and seemed to be moving tentatively, yet steadily, into the street—- specifically, in the direction that, once the traffic lights gave permission, was about to be peopled with cars.

“He’s not going to make it,” said the lady who’d passed by him, with several feet of space between them, and joined me on the sidewalk.

“I hope he does,” I replied as I watched his journey. And I really did. He was such a little thing.  And something about him up here, street side, traveling by himself, crossing with the masses, and something about his physicality— that tentative yet steady gait, and something about his light grey coat of fur, all made me think he could easily be someone’s pet, someone’s little friend.

Now, truth be told, I was likely more open to entertaining these thoughts because we weren’t indoors somewhere. There, on that great expanse of landscape called the street, he and I could easily go about our business— could easily go our separate ways.

When the pedestrian light changed, allowing us to continue our journey, the lady took the lead, but momentarily paused to look back at me.  “Fingers crossed,” she said referring to my earlier response about the mouse making it safely across the street.

I smiled in agreement, following a few steps behind her, holding on to that hope while at the same time unable to bring myself to look over at the mouse because of the cars now heading in his direction.

A Visit to the BBG

One of my favorite observations at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens today was a family of three— they appeared to be a mom, a dad and a toddler.  

The mother parked the stroller while the father placed a yellow soccer ball on the grass and then both called over to the little one. The little one, with both hands up in the air, ran towards it— ran in the way that toddlers sometimes run— seemingly too fast and appearing just slightly out of the control of their small bodies. Then this little one reached the ball and executed a bit of fancy footwork that I was totally not expecting— especially for one so young. But later, when I saw the father free styling with the ball, I had my questions answered. 

The exuberance with which the little one ran for that ball and the commitment to play? My experience of pleasant surprise at the little one’s skills? Seeing a family engaging in a display of love? Being buffeted on all sides by a brisk invigorating wind shower on my way to the BBG? And the gift of this beautiful day at the BBG? All of it. All. Of. It. Made my heart beam.