A small boy crosses the parking lot

They say crows remember kindness. This morning, the woods are full of them. By that I mean three cross our path. No amount of animal intelligence will surprise me, ever, but I wonder: what does kindness to a crow look like? Not throwing stones at them? The path emerges onto the shady campus, some event about to happen. Urns line the edge of a folding table as if preparing for a drill. Ready! Aim! Pour!

A skinny boy crosses the parking lot, half in shadow. What is his errand? Later I will remember his tiny half-lit back, something cinematic and bird-like about him.

A man in a tie flings his briefcase into the front seat. Half a lot away, another man sits at the wheel and chortles into his phone.

Watch. Sit. Turn. Place! Watch… watch… By my side! (tap tap tap tap). By my side!  We see four other dogs and Finn does not bark at a single one of them. Not even the one that barked at him. You have no idea how major this is… how much progress it signals.

Husband home from China just now. You should have seen me frantically flipping through his itinerary after watching those explosions in Tianjin. Orange fireballs. He was somewhere else. But he HAS been there.

So many things to feel glad relief over!

8 thoughts on “A small boy crosses the parking lot

    1. deemallon

      Huh? Really? Not just because crows are mentioned, either, I hope?! This came straight out of my morning pages. Kind of a violation of that practice. But maybe one I can selectively do more often.

      Reply
  1. ravenandsparrow

    When one steps out in the company of a very good dog, life unfurls before us. Boys, urns, crows and cell phones…pointillist moments, like a painting by Seurat. Thank you for sharing it with us.

    Reply
    1. deemallon

      he IS a very good dog! and it was a good walk… Perhaps in part prompting by Echkart Tolle to become transparent to annoyances? There weren’t any, really, on the walk – but it’s possible I am usually bracing myself for them.

      Reply
  2. grace

    if we could live like this….feelings, images, without a need to connect, just receiving
    Impressions, sensing, receiving,
    this is Extremely BeautyFull, Dee…

    Reply
    1. deemallon

      hi grace. i believe this is what you do, day in and day out. maybe it takes five years to find a blogging voice? for me, anyway.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to deemallonCancel reply