Same path, different journey.

I go for long walks a lot, and often Brendan and I take the same path every week. We go about 2 miles from the house to Dunkin Donuts- I get a coffee, and Bren and I each have a donut. Then we usually head to CVS to pick up a needed item or two (today tp and baby wipes), and he usually gets something that costs about a buck there-usually a lollipop. Then home. Once in a while we have a picnic in a park or walk to the farmer's market instead, but this is our usual trip.

You would think a once a week trip like this would get boring. Same streets, same houses and landmarks, same direction. But no, that's not the case at all. Each trip is different somehow, colored by people and the little things that change. Once, a customer at dunkin bought Bren a second donut just because of how well behaved and quiet he was. Another time, we chatted with a nice lady from Florida who had gotten turned around on a walk she was taking- we showed her the right way and since it was the way we were going, we all walked together. I still remember the bright blue sunhat and cheery smile.
Once, we watched a whole family of swans begin their morning on Wenscott Reservoir. We saw a hawk once, and an oriole!
It's always fun to see how the flowers in front of everyone's houses change throughout the growing season. You get the idea.

Today was no exception. We got about halfway there, when I heard a friendly "Hello." I turned and it was a woman in an SUV that had just pulled out of her house. "I've seen you walking a lot, and I was wondering if you needed a ride or something?" I told her no, but thank you so much. "Oh alright, just checking. If you ever do I live right here." She pointed to the house behind her. I thanked her again. I walk for my excercise and Bren likes the exploring we do too, so it wasn't needed. But how nice was it for her to offer! I think I might have just met a neighbor who doesn't even live near me. :) I smiled for the rest of the walk!
Then, a garbage truck passed us, and the guys hanging on the back waved and smiled at us. I always smile and say thank you when I see our own garbage men, they have a tough, dirty job, and I feel they are underappreciated. Then, they stopped traffic so they could turn down a little sidestreet- which the guy did backwards! Wicked impressive, sir. :P At Dunkin Bren didn't want to eat his donut, he wanted his pop and was grumpy. One of the girls in back kept talking to him about his donut, then she came out and cut it up for him. She made him smile and he finally ate almost all of it. That extra moment of kindness, of a good attitude, that stuff really makes people sit up and take notice. It makes me want to treat people better, and pay forward the good karma. Sounds kind of lame and candy-coated, but if we all took the time to do something nice for one person each day that we might not know personally, what a different world it could be.