Savoring a Wednesday

Note: Please pray for Texas and a weakening of Hurricane Ike!

I wish you could see what I’m seeing. Today I’m sitting at a little table with my laptop, working on my book. This time I’m inside a Starbucks; this one is inside a Barnes and Nobel. My table is tucked in the corner by the big picture window that looks out onto the sidewalk. Between paragraphs or streams of thought, I look up and gaze outside as I think.

It rained this morning, and looks like it just might again in the next hour.

A moment ago I looked up and noticed a young, twenty-something couple outside. She’s wearing a blue jean skirt, and a short-sleeved twin-set, small rimmed glasses, and flip flops. She’s pretty, but she wouldn’t normally turn your head. Her long brown hair lifts from the middle of her back to blow in the wind. He is about her same height, maybe a couple inches taller. He’s in brown slacks and a causal short-sleeve button-down. His looks seem to match hers.

They were walking along towards the Starbucks when they stopped on the sidewalk and turned to each other. Something was said, one of them smiled, and I wondered if they were in love. Their arms raised at the same time as if they were going to hug. Her hands stopped and rested on his shoulders, elbows slightly bent. His hands stopped and rested on either side of her waist. They stood still a second looking at each other, and then down at their feet.

No sooner than I could think, “that looks like a dance hold,” they began to move. With jerky, slightly unsure steps, they began to travel in unison:

Forward, Side, Back, Side

Forward, Side, Back, Side

They were dancing a box step in the courtyard right outside of Starbucks – just as I wanted to do on Monday evening in my last post! They've put the biggest smile on my face.


There is no sunshine out today, and no moon shining either – only cloudy grey skies in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon. Yet this couple is savoring the day – and I’m savoring watching them.

After a few minutes, the rain started back up and the couple dashed for cover out of sight. But their dance will continue because I will think of them later when I meet up with my 7 year-old son and ask him to dance with me in the kitchen. I will think of them this evening when I’m on the elliptical machine with dance music filling my ears through my I-Pod. And I will think of them at the end of the day when I curl up with my husband.

Can you tell that I’ve secretly always wanted to live in a musical?!