I was driving home on a Friday evening, and the setting summer
sun turned the cumulus clouds into a skyful of silver-tinted
cotton-fluff mountains. It was a perfect backdrop for a photo of a farm
on Highway 200 west of Jacobson, so I stopped my car, grabbed the
camera, and started walking along the road in search of the perfect
photographic angle.
Glancing back at the sunset, I noticed that another car had stopped a block or so further west, and a young couple was standing in the road.
A second glance revealed the fact that they were escorting a turtle safely across the highway.
Continuing my journey home, I slowed as I approached their vehicle, lightly tapped my horn, and gave them a hearty "thumbs-up" sign. They smiled, and I was on my way.
With so much in the news about the bad stuff some folks do, I found it encouraging to know that there were still folks who would go out of their way to protect a lowly turtle.
That got me thinkin' about the rest of the day.
I
had gone to the Minneapolis airport for a chance to see my youngest
daughter and her family during a two-hour layover on their flight from
Denver to Chicago. It was my first opportunity to meet Sarah and Dan's
newly-adopted 2-year-old twin daughters.
As we waited for their connecting flight, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, 14-month-old boy gently tossed his toy football toward one of my dark-eyed, dark-haired granddaughters. She picked it up and politely walked over to return it to him. The game continued for quite a while, and soon a bunch of wayfaring strangers were chatting like old friends - and remarking about how well the youngsters had hit it off.
Of the hundreds of folks from all walks of life that I encountered at the airport that day, I never heard a bit of profanity -- or even an angry word.
The trip home put me smack in the middle of a world-class, hot and sticky, it's-Friday-night-and-the-whole-world's-headed-for-Northern-Minnesota, traffic jam. The kind that's supposed to trigger all sorts of road rage.
Surprisingly, every driver I saw was considerate of others: leaving plenty of room for others who needed to change lanes and generally keeping their cool.
As the sun touched the horizon that Friday evening, I found
myself reflecting on the simple fact that the world's still full of
pretty nice folks.
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COPYRIGHT © 2004 BOB LEMEN, GRAND RAPIDS, MINNESOTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.