I'd Like to Give the World a Coke

One of the writing prompts I have been given in classes is to write about something that inspired, surprised or touched me.  On my flight back to Houston...after 4 months at the shore, I had an encounter that inspired, surprised and touched me and I could not wait to get home and write it all down with fresh emotions.  The rough draft was very rough and after several revisions I'm still not sure I am conveying the genuine emotion this individual stirred in me.  Suffice it to say, "he made my day".

 Usually, I stick to myself on planes...I'm not one of those people who strikes up a conversation with the person next to me.  I plugged myself into a movie early in the flight and had that "don't bother me" body language happening.  I noticed the fellow next to me asked the flight attendant for water twice before we even took off, he shyly smiled at me and said he was very thirsty.  We acknowledged each other but did not talk.  I ordered a Diet Coke when the beverage service came.  We both dozed and of course had the elbow war over the armrest between us.  Eventually we finally decided to just share even if our elbows occasionally touched each other.  I'm okay with that, most men (in my experience) try to dominate the armrest so sharing is a step in the right direction.  At one point he was trying to watch a movie and could not get it to work on his screen and tapped me and pointed to his screen as if to ask, "what's up with this?  Can you get the movie to play?".   I gave it my best but had no success either.  He finally did get another movie to play on his screen, tapped me again and pointed to it, smiled and gave me the thumbs up. 

About halfway through the flight, he now had his own can of Diet Coke.  He filled his cup, tapped me on the arm and offered to fill my empty cup.  I can honestly say no one has ever offered to share their drink with me on a plane.  He proceeded to pour until my cup was full.  I was surprised....

We got closer to Houston and I was looking out of the window at my long lost home and took a couple of photos.  He started to look out the window too...with curiosity. I assumed he was from New York since we left from Newark.  I was not really sure what ethnicity he was, I thought maybe Indian and put him in his late 30's.  I figured he was not from Houston because he was wearing jeans, a long sleeved button down shirt and a v-neck sweater.  Anyone going back to Houston at this time of year would NOT be wearing a long sleeve v-neck sweater!  Yes... I was making assumptions about my seat mate.  I asked where he was from and he answered, "India".  I asked why he was going to Houston and found out he was on his way from Mumbai to Santiago, Chile, which explains the sweater and his thirst.  Poor guy was in the middle of a VERY long day or two of travel!  

Back to Houston!

The rest of our conversation was priceless.  He said he had a layover and asked what he could do in Houston.  I mentioned a few things and then found out the layover was only 2 hours. Basically, he had time to go from one gate to another, go to the bathroom and maybe grab a bite to eat.  He assumed he could just leave the airport and take the metro (of which there is none from the Houston airport) and be minutes away from something interesting to see or do.  Maybe in Mumbai but not in Houston.

He asked a lot of questions....
-Is Houston a city or a state?
- How far away is Dallas?
-Is Texas a state?
- How many states are in the US?
-How far away do you live?
-What is there to see in Houston?
 I showed him a map of the US on my phone and explained the states and cities.  He was so curious! This was a turning point for me...after 4 months in another country it took a foreigner to bring me back to America.  Through him asking me about my city and my country I suddenly realized I was back "home".  I have been on the other side of this equation many times and am always thankful for those locals who take the time to help a traveler.

Once we landed he was very polite and asked which bag in the overhead compartment was mine and retrieved it for me.  We walked off the plane together and inside the terminal he asked if he had to go through customs or pick up his bag and re-check it before his next flight.  I explained that he just needed to go to his gate and we checked the monitor to find the gate for his next flight.  It just so happened to be in the same direction as baggage claim so we continued walking and talking on our way.  We reached our parting spot and I said goodbye when he whipped out his cell phone and said he had to have a picture of us.  He flagged down a girl and asked her to take our picture.  I was surprised...again!  He proudly showed me the pictures and said thank you over and over and said he would not forget my kindness.  I admit, way back at the beginning with the Diet Coke, I was a little skeptical and distrusting but his kindness and sincerity were infectious.  I was a bit choked up when he wanted to take a photo.  He kept telling me how nice I was and thanking me for being so kind to him when all along all I kept thinking was how nice and kind he was!  I stood waiting for my bag to arrive with tears in my eyes, a warm heart and an overwhelming feeling God sent this person into my day for a reason!  I really wish I had asked for a picture too!  He touched me!

P.S.   I took Uber back to my house...a good 45 minute ride.  I was quiet for a while still thinking about my new friend.  The driver and I chatted a bit about Hurricane Harvey, we were both spared any flooding, and then I sat quietly for a bit.  I thought about sharing how a kindness can change someones day and was inspired to tell my driver about my experience.  He proceeded to share his hurricane experience and blew me away.  He and his son borrowed his brother's truck (with huge wheels) and went out and rescued people in the flood.  He said he cried when he found a man in a wheelchair alone in his house with water quickly approaching his home.  He said his son rescued a dog that was tied up in a yard.  He said they worked all day giving people rides out of flooded areas and the next day his son went and volunteered at the animal shelter because he loves animals.  He is just one of thousands of people who did the same thing.

There is good in this world!  We are barraged  every day with negative news and stories of horrors happening in our world and if we are not careful we can assume the worst about people, expect the worst to happen and only see the bad.  My eyes were opened twice in one day to the good around me.   I hope you have someone surprise, inspire or touch you today!

Farewell Bill Murray

I would have preferred to just ride off into the sunset at the end of the summer and look back at his cute little face knowing he would watch over the garden and keep the weeds at bay.  Instead I watched him ride off into the sunrise to his new home down the road a few miles.  I'm going to miss him!

Bill Murray has spent the last two summers living under our shed.  I wake up every morning to his little furry body munching weeds next to our flower bed.  He doesn't make a mess, he doesn't bother anyone, he lives under the shed...not in the shed (as far as I can tell) and has provided me with many morning and evening smiles over the summer.  I really do love waking up and looking out my window and saying, "good morning Bill!".  He just stares back and nibbles grass.

Good morning Bill!

Bill has very good taste in accommodations

This morning when I was having my first cup of tea (aka...barely awake and speaking)  TJ said he had an errand to run and was waiting for me to finish my tea before he told me about the nature of the errand.  He knew I would not take it well.  I told him to just break it to me, expecting him to say he needed my help to do one of our many "closing the farmhouse" chores.  To my surprise he confessed that his errand was to relocate Bill Murray who was now trapped in the "have a heart" trap.  I almost cried!  NOT Bill Murray!  TJ knew I would want to go out and say goodbye to the little fella.  Sniff, sniff!

He looked at me as if to say, "why...what did I do?"

We had a moment...or two.  He came right up and we looked at each other much like we have done every morning and evening ...except without the cage.  I think what I liked most was having an animal in the yard again.  With no dog running around the property these days, I enjoyed watching a cute groundhog named Bill Murray.  He did very little destruction and was kinda cute.  TJ was afraid Bill was going to talk some cute female groundhog into moving into his cool shed for the winter and make lots of little Bill Murrays who would munch the entire garden next summer.  I was more willing to risk it and let Bill and his potential family hang out over the winter and deal with the little lettuce eaters next summer.

It will probably be a few days before I quit looking for Bill every time I go to the kitchen window.  I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink here at the farmhouse so having something to entertain me was pretty nice.

In other news, Bill Murray is not the only thing we are saying goodbye to this week.  Our summer has come to an end.  Part of the reason I was emotional saying goodbye to Bill was that I am also saying goodbye to another summer at the farmhouse.  It is the last week or hell week as I refer to it.  Plenty of emotions flying around this place amplified by exhaustion.  It was a different kind of summer, but aren't they all?  If I had to guess the number of beds I washed and changed over the summer I might just have to take a nap...my best guess is around 25....not that I counted.  We built it... they came... and we loved it!

So as I close the book on another beautiful summer here are a few of my favorite pictures from the summer of '17.

June had a few very nice days!

and some beautiful nights!

In July we celebrated Canada's 150th and TJ's brother's 60th!

This happy little guy and his Mom visited in July!

And there were more spectacular sunsets...over the water.

One of the attempts at a Lee family photo in August

The "cousin party"....one of my favorite
nights of the summer!

Oh, what the heck...there are just too many to share.  I will forever be grateful for this place my family found to spend their summers..... way back when.  We are thankful for being able to carry on the tradition and pass this place on to the next generation.  May they always know the gift that is "the shore" in Nova Scotia.
And Bill Murray....I hope you find a nice girl with a sweet shed for the winter!