Random Thoughts

I was walking through town today and made a snap judgment about a woman who walked past me. As I walked on, feeling smugly superior, I realized I had noticed a brush of sadness as her mask slipped for a moment and I heard a furious voice in my head I won't forget. "How dare you judge her? You don't know her story. How dare you think of yourself as better." I had to stop at what is probably best described as the quiet righteous wrath of God. It took me a moment to compose myself. No, I'm not likely to forget that soon.

I love people with wry senses of humor. Mickey and I searched all over town for a simple piece of hardware with no luck, and we finally wandered into a cute light store and inquired. The owner was a man with a wry grin. He teased and bargained and we ended up in a playful bartering session. He jokingly mocked our demands and we teased right back. These are human moments I treasure.

I saw a black balloon desperately trying to lift itself off the wet ground, but it had too little helium and it's long black ribbon was soaked and heavy. It tugged and jerked, like a frantic animal on a leash...in slow motion. It finally managed to pull itself over the wall of the cathedral I was passing, and I like to imagine, caught its breath for a bit. There was, and you can call be crazy, a ethos of desperation and hopelessness that accompanied its futile longing for the open sky. It was a little heartbreaking.