Good things

During a visit with my friend Linda today, she reminded me that we should take conscious notice of the good things. Summarize them in words, focus on them for a few seconds, and the positive will get entrenched.

“Pfffhh,” I said, heading out for the trip home, toward an evening of tasks I wasn’t looking forward to. But on the way, I started thinking about the little girl and the dog from the day before.

I saw her only from the side and back as she crossed the street and headed away from me, but her coat was swinging open and her long hair trailed down her back. She was holding a leash and she was, yes, skipping along the street. Who skips these days? I couldn’t think of the last time I’d seen someone skipping: what a bouncy quintessence of carefree joy!

The dog thought so, too. It was a small white dog, just the right size for a little girl, and it kept watching her sideways, as if it, too, was enjoying the sight. Its tail wagged; it looked as if it wanted to skip right along with her.

But what capped the picture for me was the dog’s feet. On each of its little paws were booties the colour of yellow rainboots. Didn’t these two belong in a child’s picture book?

They were long gone before I even thought of my camera, but Linda’s comment brought them back. The girl, the skipping, the boots – a really good thing to remember.