Silly Little Moments

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, the sun shining, with no cloud in sight. In the 50s (F), it was warm enough for just a light jacket over a short sleeved shirt. When I went for a jog, I even wore shorts and a t-shirt! From the start of my run, I felt amazing. Something about great weather just lightens my step and makes me feel like anything is possible. In fact, if my hip hadn't started hurting again when I neared our place, I probably would have ran for even longer.

Besides the mood changing effects of pleasant weather, I wanted to share two little moments on my run that made me smile. The first happened before I even left our small neighborhood. Two boys (probably about 8 or 9) were playing in the street. As I neared them, they began to whisper and then one of them made direct eye contact with me. The disc golf course in Leidsche Rijn is right by a school, and I'd seen the same look from kids of a similar age before they yelled out taunts. I felt pretty sure this kid was going to say something to me, but I didn't know what; besides, whatever it was, I knew I wouldn't understand. 

However, a moment later, instead of hearing a taunt, I saw this:

You've Been Mooned

Well, not exactly that. Instead it was a little boy's behind, but I think the picture is a little more blog-appropriate. It made me laugh for a few reasons. First, I was just completely caught off guard. You just never know what you are going to see. Second, I mused at what must have been going through the boy's mind. Was he trying to intimidate me, someone 3 times his age? Was he trying to impress his friend? Finally, I thought about what a ridiculous sense of humor little boys have and how amazing that it is the same all over the world.

The second thing that I saw on my walk that made me smile was affixed to a vehicle that I had noticed before. In fact, I'd even taken pictures of the car in the past:

Rusty Car with a Cover

This time, passing by the car, I got a little closer to try and figure out what type of car it is. (I went back and took the next two pictures since I didn't bring a camera on my jog.)

The Cover is Off Here

I believe it is a Packard Panama Clipper. Anyway, when I got closer to examine the hood ornament, I saw something familiar out of the corner of my eye. In fact, it was so familiar, it almost didn't register that it was unusual in this context. Then, as I started to jog away, I realized what I had seen:

Texas Stickers

The car had an inspection sticker and registration from Texas! It's funny to think that someone living a few blocks away from me here may have lived near me back home as well. Of course, the Lone Star State is huge and the owner could be from any part of the state, but finding this little connection still made me pretty happy.

Through the rest of my run, I thought about these two moments and how such small things can affect our outlook and our feeling of connectivity with our surroundings.