Welcome to a new week, 3/29/21, Choose the most genuinely loving thoughts and actions

Tears and Love, A Trio with the Right of Way, Seen on the Streets in Brooklyn

Standing at a traffic stop on my way to the grocery store, up and to my left, the light turned from yellow to red while ahead of me, its kinsman gave me the directive to walk. On the other side waiting to cross the street, but as yet unaware of the permission granted by the signal change, stood, judging by their facial features and dreads, a family of three: a young boy, maybe 8 or 9, an adult, maybe his mother, though could easily pass for an older sister, and a young girl, most likely his sister, possibly age 11 or 12. 

As I approached, I could tell something was wrong.  It was in the way the adult was slightly bent towards the boy, completely focused and, at the same time, softly engaging with him. It was in the way her right hand had curved around behind his head and was gently caressing the light brown dreads peeking out from the right side of his hoodie. It was in the way he faced out, his head held up, almost stoically, but for the red eyes blinking back tears, and a quietly pained expression, on his young, brown light-skinned face. 

 As I got closer, the adult noticed the now changing traffic light, and all three drew together, moving quickly past me.  

I felt the love and care in her presence with him.  And though he was blinking back his tears, that seemed to be his choice; she didn’t appear to react negatively to them.  I hoped that meant he felt safe enough to shed some more if he needed to.

Stilts on the Streets in Brooklyn (& Eye in the Sky in Brooklyn)

I'm always grateful to bear witness to the "little" or "everyday" experiences that uplift my spirit and I often post said experiences on my blog. In 2020, I didn't post those sightings as much; partly because I was indoors for much of it and focused on engaging in some much-needed self-care and inner work. This past weekend included a sighting that wasn't at all "everyday" for me. I share because I'm still dining on the joy experienced. Over the weekend, as I was out in the world, enjoying the gorgeous weather, I saw a man walking on stilts. Yes. Stilts. My inner child was captivated. He was farther ahead on the sidewalk of a street I’d eventually turn right on, so when I did, our positions were such that I was now behind him. I would have taken a picture, but he was already quite a ways away and steadily covering much ground. His long, and from this distance, black hair, either in dreads or braids, was pulled back and hung past his shoulders. His, again from this distance, seemingly fitted, black top was paired with loose, colorful, patterned pants with the stilts, showing below. At one point, a jogger crossed to my side of the street, covered enough ground to get closer to the man, before pulling out his phone, snapping a pic, smiling at the pic and, then turning back in the direction he’d just run from. I applauded his dedication. It isn’t every day one sees a person out and about on stilts. But as much as I wanted a picture, there was no way I was running. So, I just enjoyed watching his progress up the sidewalk. I also enjoyed seeing those who were closer to him pause in their travels and stare, or continue their journey while casting extended glances in his direction. He seemed to take it all in stride. On stilts, he was taller than the storefront awnings to the right of us and a few times, walked closer to those awnings, close enough that he could lean down and make contact with the wall of the establishments. I imagined how delighted I’d be if I were in one of the stores, just going about my business, and then suddenly, I look out the window and I see pants, where I’d normally expect to see a person’s head! Our travels “together” came to an end, when he finally turned the corner and I lost sight of him. But for the entirety of our shared trip, I was beaming. It was so neat!

The pic accompanying these words has nothing to do with the sighting except that it was another neat thing I saw on my walk and one I could take a picture of and share :)

Welcome to a New Week, 3/15/21 Cheering You On

 

Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh, Dear Author/Review

Dear Nalini,

I finished listening to the audiobook of your latest thriller, Quiet in Her Bones.

First off, thanks for a story where I felt I had a pretty good chance of figuring out whodunnit! I’ve read many by other authors where I never felt I had an inkling of a chance! And when I got to the end of those, no surprise, I was correct. But yours gave me some hope on this subject and helped to keep me going!

And I guessed wrong.

I learned this when I got to about 5 chapters before the end and I looked at a spoiler. BUT, even knowing this, I still finished! Because I was invested and I wanted to 😊

I wasn’t completely off the mark. For a period of time, I entertained the thought that two people were responsible. But if I had been a contestant on some bizzarro game show and had to choose one of my two (which, ultimately, I did), I would have been wrong.

It’s all good though. I enjoyed the journey and loved the little clues you gave along the way about what was and what wasn’t…there 😉 And I seriously enjoyed figuring out how a certain bit o' sabotage re: Aarav, was taking place before he did 😊 It made up (a little) for all the other times where both he and I were in the dark 😉

Looking forward to your next release (in any of your current series).

Thanks for writing,

Me