What brings you joy?
The older I get, the less it takes to bring me joy, or maybe it’s that I appreciate finding joy in the small things. Either way, I’ve learned to pay attention to the peek-a-boo moments.
You ask, what is a peek-a-boo moment?
The rain comes out of nowhere. It’s pouring rain while the sun shines ever-so-brightly in the summer sky. You know what that means. A rainbow will show up.
Chuck is tucked into his recliner, watching baseball. I head out the door and look to the eastern sky. God did not disappoint my expectations. There she was in all her curves of color … a rainbow.
I tap on the glass door and motion for him to join me in the middle of the sidewalk. “Look, Chuck, isn’t she beautiful?”
“She is.” He walks back inside to see who’s on first. Doesn’t that remind you of the comedy sketch of Abbot and Costello? They were brilliant. Fewer and fewer of us remember who they were or why their discussion on baseball was so funny.
Back to the rainbow. What a delightful surprise. Peek-a-boy joys have a way of making my heart smile.
As I write this column, I glance out the window at North Elementary’s softball field. There is a gaggle of geese walking around the bases. I’m unsure who will be on first, but extras are playing in the outfield. Isn’t it odd that a group of geese walking is a gaggle, but when they fly, they are a flock? I so enjoy studying words and their meaning.
The geese are walking on the sward around the diamond. I never knew sward was even a word. It’s in my word of the day in worddaily.com. It’s an expanse of short grass. Who knew? Grammarly does not like the word, sward. It prefers turf. Trust me when I say there is no turf on the North Elementary baseball field.
Photo provided by Janet Hart Leonard
Back to the rainbow, but … wait. I have more to say about baseball. “Chuck, what time is the Little League World Series?” I ask Alexa as he looks at the newspaper’s sports times. She’s our know-it-all girl with the answers. She’s always listening. She’s like a live-in Glady Kravitz. For those without a clue who she is, Google the TV show Bewitched. It was a silly but delightful comedy back in 1964-1972. In 1969, they had to switch the part of Darrin to a different Darrin. Why? Ask Google or Alexa, whichever one you want. They are always listening, and they seem to know it all. Did you know there was a controversial episode? Interesting.
Back to the gaggle of geese or maybe the rainbow. I don’t know. This column is like the Abbot and Costello sketch. Who’s on first? What is Janet talking about?
Rainbows. Baseball. Geese. Softball. Sward. Bewitched.
We go round and round with our Alexa. You see, we have a granddaughter, Alecksa. We can’t talk about her without Alexa pompously thinking it’s her. We can change Alexa’s name, which would involve messing with technology. You know how much I love messing with technology.
Grammarly does not like how we spell Alecksa’s name. Ugh. It says we spelled it incorrectly. Grammarly is wrong.
Anyone who reads my columns knows I have “traveling issues.” No one wants to travel with me. This summer, Alecksa and her significant other, Henry, visited his family in Italy. Thirty-six hours to get there. Major UGH!
When they landed in Germany, protestors had GLUED themselves to the tarmac. They were not allowed off the plane. They had to fly to another airport and figure out how to change their flight to Italy. Don’t ask Alecksa how long they stood in line to do so. Hours. In Italy, the trains were shut down for repairs and construction. The buses were never on schedule. No one wanted to allow them to rent a car because neither had an international driver’s license. Finally, one did.
Please don’t ask about their trip home. Let’s just say they drove home from Chicago … after more delays. Can traveling issues be inherited?
At this point, I have no idea where this column is going or why I wrote it. I only know it brought me great joy to do so, and I hope it also brought you joy. Maybe, not tidings of great joy but words of great joy.
Until next week, look for the peek-a-boo joys. They are the unexpected, delightful things waiting for you to find them.
I’m off the computer to watch the softball game across the street. Go Girls! And they have dugouts!
And for the record, I do not plan to travel to Italy.
Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.