Easily entertained!

Sometimes entertaining moments remind me of a Japanese flower my father once brought home to my sister and me when we were very young. The "flower" appeared to be only a twisted bit of colored paper--until it was dropped into a bowl of water, where it bloomed into its own floating world of petals.

Moment 1: A very tall, big-boned woman walks into a health food store with a list in her hand. She is on a mission. The store manager, an expert herbalist and very gentle spirit, greets her and asks how she can help. The woman replies in a booming voice: "I need yeast flakes. That's what the list says. The flakes are for the rat. My son wants the rat to live a long time. Oh, I see the yeast flakes also have B-6. That must be good." She bought an 10-inch-high canister of yeast flakes and continued on her mission, list in hand.

Moment 2: I am leaving a crowded grocery store, accompanied by a high school student who will load the grocery bags in my car for me. I remark that the store certainly has a wide variety of people shopping in the aisles this afternoon. He shakes his head and says, "Yeah, some days working here is like taking a course in sociology. I learn a lot of things I didn't even want to know." Coming from a 50-year-old, this would have been just a comment among others. Coming from a 16-year-old wearing an expression of deep seriousness on his face, it was priceless.

Moments: are you missing them or catching them? They're all around you, and if you are a writer, you have more reason than most people to pay attention to these moments. They make me smile. They remind me of the daily surprises and delights that come simply with being human. Keep an eye out. A moment like these may be yours to enjoy
. . . any moment now!

The fun photo is by Cathy Keifer and comes from istockphoto.