Friday 55 & Da Count- Wake up and smell the coffee

FRIDAY 55

Yakking on the cellphone while cutting off another driver.

Bashing into me with your cart in your rush to get the freshest asparagus.

Meandering through the aisles and weaving like a drunk so no one can get around you.

Oh, look! Anchovy paste, isn't that interesting, dear?

Is being oblivious as blissful as it seems?

DA COUNT

This week I want to count awareness. It comes in many forms but the kind I want to count is the sort that increases gladness. My stepmother is great at this. You could mention in passing that you enjoyed a particular new recipe youtasted somewhere or some sort of music or that you are trying to figure out how to solve a particular problem. She mentally files it all away and at a time when you most need a boost she will demonstrate she has rememebered and surprise you with some form of what you mentioned. She's also the type who will see the suffering someone endures even when others miss it entirely. From her I learned to pay attention to what people say and how they say it.

My mom is the type who tends to be quiet. She is not quick to offer her opinion or a solution to a dilemma, but when she does she always has something pertinent to add, some key thing that other people have often overlooked or the final piece of the puzzle. She can look at an obstacle from all the angles, mull it over, and come up with a unique solution. I learned to pay attention to how things work together from her.

My son, as you know, loves bugs. I've learned how to pay attention to their amazing little bodies and marvel over them because he does. But he also has a way of drawing my attention to other things I might miss as well. Last winter we stood at the bus stop and he seemed to be staring at his feet. Then he squatted way down and squinted into the snow and said, 'Mom, did you know you can see individual snowflakes melting one at a time?' I love that he has not grown out of the wonder that often seems reserved for younger children. So there we were squatted down marvelling over melting snowflakes when the bus came and the driver looked at us like we'd lost our minds. I know she had a schedule to keep and the roads were not the best, so I was aware of her constraints and didn't mind.

I'm just glad for the poeple who ARE aware and the people who make me aware of new things, ideas, and experiences.