Localizing

A lifetime ago, I flew across the pond and spent some time in England. Back then, it was my dream to return again, although somewhere, deep down, I knew it was a one-and-done.

(photo attribution below)

As it often happens, life took turns in unpredictable directions, and my focus shifted to marriage and motherhood. One day I awoke to find my knees and back ached, flying had become a major ordeal and gas prices had risen to astronomical levels. And while I sometimes longed to visit faraway places, the lure was not enough to cause me to take action.

Mr. Ginley and I do daydream about winning the lottery and living in Ireland or Paris or London long enough to soak up the culture and see what it's all about, like natives. But we know this is a pipe dream.

Rather than groan about becoming an alter cocker and counting down the years until my demise, I'm taking another tack. I've decided to explore my own little corner of the universe to see what I can see. So here we go.

I feed the birds in my backyard and watch them. Mostly they're sparrows and can often be assholes, dropping their "thanks" all over my car. But they're also pretty fun to observe. Like passengers on the subway, they shove and jostle each other for position, fighting for their share.

As I opened my front windows the other day, a little boy, headed for school, stopped to pick a dandelion out of our yard. The backpack-strapped lad slowed his pace, held the dandelion to his lips and blew. He watched with delight as the seeds caught the wind and flew here and there, before he scurried to catch up to his companion, who'd witnessed none of this.

We returned home the other night from my son's house. It was dark by the time we pulled in the driveway, and as we parked the car, Mr. Ginley said, "Look!" And there, caught in the headlights, were two bunnies, munching away in the tall grass of the neighbor's lawn. Their eyes glowed, and they paused a moment. But if rabbits could shrug, these two would have. We just turned off the headlights and let them get on with it.

Malley's is a chocolate store that also sells ice cream. On a whim, Mr. and I pulled up to the pink-and-green store, went inside and ordered malts to go. They were the best. 

Thursday evening was lovely, so Mr. and I decided to grab some grub and head to the park. We pulled up, rolled down the windows and sat in our car. On other visits, we'd noticed a picnic table of older gentlemen, speaking some type of Eastern European tongue, while playing dominoes. Sure enough, they were there Thursday night, playing the game and arguing among themselves. I don't know any of them, but I love them just the same. If I were bolder, I'd go over and talk to them and get their stories. But I'm not. So, alas, I won't.

I know this isn't a very exciting post. And maybe there's not much to be learned from it. Except it's good to take a little vacation every day. I know I don't have to travel halfway around the world to experience things. 

Amazements happen locally, too.

Photo attribution: Eder Thorunensis, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons