Happy April, my dears!
As of late, I have neglected my blog; and for that, I am truly sorry. I hope you’re sitting somewhere comfy with a cup of something to drink, for I feel this entry may turn out to be a humdinger in length. Bear with me, if you please.
So these past few months for me have been filled with a deepening sense of singleness – in every sense of the word (Oh, the quagmire of life!). The sky has been composed of one single entity - grey clouds. Even the trees have consisted solely of the singleness of bare limbs. But now, with the arrival of spring, I seem to be experiencing everything in couplets, for better or for worse.
For example: the sky is now sun and sky. The trees are now limbs and leaves and blossoms. The beverage is now coffee and ice. Bodies are shedding their warmer clothes and flaunting arms and toes. Couplets. In addition to these natural duos that bring a lighter step to my life, there also seems to be an organic influx of Homo sapiens couples as well.
Now, I myself am a sentimental fool, a hopeless romantic. While I consider this to be a charming facet to any personality, it has it's downsides. Even on the sunniest of days in my merriest of moods, my wintery singleness seems out of place in a season overflowing with couplets. On such days as these, I find myself irrationally restless and filled with wanderlust. This attitude is only ever quenched if I set out alone and let The Sound of Music influence me as I set about doing a few of my favorite things. And so, such was my day, and I’d like very much to share with you how I set about, and how this lead to Panini love. (This post is sans pictures, which is probably for the best, because there are no pictures great enough to satisfy the mind, and the mind is what I spent my day with.) Here goes.
The first half of my day was spent driving to a park on the outskirts of Seattle, parking my car, and reading by the Lake with my windows rolled down. Here are some couplets I experienced:
Girl & Unicycle
Grass & Dandelions
Gulls & Sweeping Air
Lips & Straw
Lapping Waves & Dock
Strangers & Smiles
Dillard & Wristwatch
Hat & Tangled hair
Bench & Lovers
Sunroof & Open skies
Laughter & Boom box
Simon & Garfunkel
For the second part of my afternoon, I drove up a hill with such a sharp incline that I can only compare it to that of San Francisco, where a natural market exists. I found this market on previous days of wandering – they have brilliant German pretzels that have claimed my heart and taste-buds.
I decided to go with a Panini, and here is where my story begins and ends. As I’ve mentioned, I was feeling a heavy sense of singleness today, even down to the fact that the majority of humanity often seems so single-minded – so me-centered. I am not exempt from this by any means. Regardless, as I ordered my Panini, the man who served it to me flashed me a terrifically genuine smile and asked me which one I would like. When I said “Surprise me,” he responded, “Ok, turn around no peeking!” He then went on to toast it, because it would be “Cheese-melted wonderfulness.” When I came back five minutes later to grab it, he told me it was looking good, but another minute and it would be melted to a fabulous state. We chit-chatted until it was finally done, he grabbed some napkins, handed it to me, and told me to enjoy my Panini.
Call it flirting, call it being good at your job, but I call it a smashing example of going above the singleness to show an endangered emotion: caring. I feel that we oftentimes underestimate the power of being as friendly or genuinely caring as possible, most especially to the people who pass in and out of our lives in a matter of minutes. Nothing is coincidental; nothing is purposeless.
Panini man reminded me to exude love to every passerby, stranger, and dear one in my life. Everyone holds secret sorrows, as my grandmother used to say, and if we can’t show another love, if even a stranger, then what really is the point of it all?
Just some food for thought, my dears. Thank you for reading along, I sincerely wish you the most lovely of evenings.
Adoringly,
Yours
