I was feeling kind of whiny this afternoon.

Got the headachey, fluey, achey post-Christmas blues but I was on a mission to find a post office in our neighbourhood.

I had walked for quite a while. The wind started to howl and then it started to rain & the aforementioned ‘ey’ words (see: headachey, fluey, achey, etc.) ramped up another notch.

We can add another word without an ‘ey’.  Cranky. Definitely had the cranky thing going on.

I wanted to be in my sweat pants in front of the fire and wanted my head to stop pounding and my neck to quit hurting and, and, and…

By this time I’d mailed my package and since I was walking past the grocery store I thought I might as well get that done and over with, because you know how it is, I was already suffering and the list would just be waiting for later anyway.

But some random guy was blocking the lettuce area. I only saw his big back and then realized he was having a conversation with someone while rather inconveniently obstructing me from reaching those greens.

I manoeuvred around him a little and saw he was talking to a pretty blonde woman, maybe early 30s, petite and bubbly. I overhead him say, “…my first time to Hawaii.”

And she said, “I’ve never been.”

I squeezed in between them with my warmest version of, “Excuse me.” They both chuckled and apologised for being in the way. I grabbed the head of lettuce.

She smiled up at me, the kind of smile that lights up a room. I smiled back.

I walked around and then behind her. She had a pink-striped umbrella strapped to the back of her scooter.

It was next to her well-used cane.

Isn’t perspective the damnedest thing?