Busy (But Who Isn't?)

I have been away from the blog for a couple of days.  There has been a lot going on with my work that has kept me busy, along with studying for an upcoming state licensing exam.  Busy, but who isn't?  The entire eastern half of the United States is blanketed in a terrible winter storm.  Here in Midland, the temperature has not cracked twenty degrees in three days.  But the snow was a beautiful blessing.  It was a blizzard, but deep enough for the kids to run around in and have fun.

Speaking of fun, I sometimes how to have fun.  The worries of my job, family situations, and just life in general seem to have robbed me of the capacity to have fun, or as some would say, to be a "kid."  But today, I became a kid, just for a few minutes, while watching to little boys running around and laughing in wonder at the strange and magical transformation wrought by the above mentioned winter storm. 

First, the two boys first saw a frozen mud puddle and took great pleasure in breaking the ice into a million dirty brown pieces.  They narrated the event with the appropriate exclamations of delight. Next, one of the little boys discovered a large icicle attached to the bumper of someone's car.  With just a second's work, the young man removed the icicle.  His friend exclaimed his amazement, then they both ran off, apparently so the young man could show off his treasure to hid mom or dad.  I could imagine the boy eating his icy treat after impressing everyone with his find.

A few seconds later a little dog ran out of some apartment and began executing tight, fast circles in the snow.  It looked like a fairly young dog.  Possibly this was his first snow storm.  He raced through the snow, sometmes slipping, then raced back to his master, lately emerging from some unknown apartment.  The owner called to the dog, but the dog simply turned and ran away, again making those dare-devil loops.  The dog was having a blast.  The owner...not so much.  Well, it WAS 18 degrees outside.  It is very far from there to zero!  I understood the dog master's position quite well.  Frostbite was probably just seconds away.  Finally the little dog, having completed close to tweny of those neck-popping loops, raced past his master to the warmth of that unseen apartment.  In just those few minutes I felt young again, "re-kiddified" if you will.

I had observed all this while walking to my vehicle through the cold and the ice.  I had to visit the local "W" store for some emergency items.  With the cold and the snow, it seemed that the Christmas-spirit had descended once again over Midland.  At the "W" store, for instance, people were joking and actually being "human" again.  The snow magic seemed to have effected everyone, spreading just a little more good cheer, temporary as it may be. 

I went through the "W" store and made my selection, just picking up the four items I needed.  Having found all the necessary items, I raced to the express checkout line.  There were only three people in front of me.  Of course the checker, a personable college-age guy, was a rather slow cashier.  After what seemed like three or four hours, but was in reality only five or ten minutes, it was my turn to get checked out.  I placed my four items on the counter and removed my wallet from my jeans.  At this point I noticed the young cashier staring at my purchases: two folding camp chairs and two quart-size boxes of ice cream. 

Seeing the boy's puzzled look, I told him, "My wife and I are going to sit in these folding chairs out on our patio and eat ice cream.  This young man's eyes widened in gaping disbelief.  He tried to talk, stuttering a few seconds, then said, "Seriously?!  Dude? I mean, it's really cold out there!"  The young cashier was genuinely concerned.  He seemed almost on the verge of throwing my purchases away in an effort to prevent my spouse and me from completing this act of utter insanity.  That's when I told him that I really was NOT going to sit outside in the folding camp chair and eat ice cream in the 18 degree air.  He first looked at me as if unconvinced of my sincerety.  Then, apparently realizing that I was not a danger to myself or others, he completed the sale and allowed me to walk away from the Express Line.

I guess we are all busy with our tasks at hand, but I forgot one thing.  It is so easy to get caught up, to become too busy, that we forget how to have fun.  We stop taking the opportunities to enjoy life, even the simple things such as a light dusting of snow.  But if we slow down, we notice the mundane but beautiful things, like icicles hanging from car bumpers.  If some little boy discovers this icicle, and we see the wonder in that child's eye at the strange and wonderful treasure he has found, it truly blesses us, it "kiddifies" our aging hearts once again.  And for a minute, just a minute...we are no longer too busy to enjoy the wonders and blessing of those little things.