They Did

I saw a man teaching a woman how to ride a bike the other day.
They were 30 years old or so ish.
It was such an uplifting sight.
A definite 'oh yes you can' moment that is now stuck in my head.

I saw them in the park.
The patient instructor and his nervous student were on the grass.
Seems the 'what if I fall / safe landing factor' was well thought out and debated before they began.
So adorable.

I walked pass, unnoticed.
The determined couple was completely absorbed in their lesson.
She was squealing with glee
& he was holding on tight.
Words of encouragement were being whispered in her ear.

"How fun !" I thought as I walked by
& So Darn CUTE.

It was my first go around the park.
I figured the happy pair would do their thing and be long gone by the time I made it back to the learning spot.
& so, I tucked this scene away in my thoughts and continued along.

After a two mile, approximately thirty minute gap I came upon the couple again.
They were still very much involved in the teaching / learning process.
He was handing her encouragement.
She was giggling with excitement.
But, he wasn't holding on quite as tight or as long anymore & she was riding.
Riding in short, interrupted intervals but, riding it was.
YaY for them !

As I walked by, I couldn't help but think ...

Determination.
      +
Encouragement.

What a wonderful combination of 'oh yes they did " ! !

:)





 

Land of the Duds

I was at my dad's the other day.
Little sister was in town so I scurried over there for some much needed visiting.

I knew Dad was planning on Christmas decorating.
& sure enough, when I arrived, the tree and lights were up and boxes of ornaments were scattered about the living room.

Dad, sister and older brother were hunkered down watching football.
Nobody looked too concerned about the ornaments.
Ok...!
Cool...!
I found a spot and hunkered down too.

Every once in awhile Dad would comment about finishing the tree trimming.
& as the day went on, his hints were becoming more obvious.
Apparently not obvious enough for his children though.
Neither of my siblings or I jumped up to volunteer our ornament hanging services.

My excuse was that I had just finished decorating my own Christmas tree.
Every person has their own, preferred way of hanging ornaments I halfheartedly insisted.
I didn't want to mess with Dad's ornament hanging style.
Yeah.
That's it.
Ornament hanging style.

Dad didn't buy my well thought out excuse.
The hints kept coming.

Finally, after he fed his non-volunteering son and daughters a delicious Sunday meal, Dad said
"I'll do the dishes. You three do the ornaments".
Gee Dad, who knew you were so against ornament hanging ...?

My brother ran for the hills.
He's pretty fast when he sets his mind on something.

It seemed my sister and I were stuck with the festive task.
& so the opening of the ornament boxes began.

Sis and I soon fell into a surprisingly happy little pattern of ornamenting.
It wasn't long until we realized we had put all the not as pretty as the other ornaments toward the back part of the tree.
The part of the Christmas tree nobody notices unless you happen to have your face plastered against the front window.
My sister and I were thrilled that we unintentionally made a little village of not so pretties.
We named our village the Land of the Duds.
YaY Duds !

We soon discovered we had actually formed a few different ornament villages.
The heavier ones, aka The Heavies, live at the bottom of the tree.
The prettier ones, aka The Pretties, are scattered amongst the villages, happily showing off their prettiness.
& the just darn cute ornaments, aka The Just Darn Cutes, are front and center because they are just so darn cute.
We even found a couple of twin ornaments.
We called them The Twins but, separated them.
Figured they could use some time apart.

Eventually, Dad wandered in to check on our ornament hanging skills.
Yes.
He was pleased.
Very pleased.
I think he realized his daughters had created a community of ornament perfection.

YaY for us.

YaY for Christmas tree decorating.

YaY for Christmas....!....

&
Dibs on hanging ornaments for Dad next year.

YaY

:)