Just a Smile
It's definitely summer, and I can't get enough of it. I love walking or jogging in the evenings after work (mostly walking), and seeing familiar faces that seem to love the same thing at the same time. It's mostly older people or families with little kids. So neighborly.
There's this one lady that I noticed a week or two ago. She looks like she's straight from a tourist brochure for an African country. All she needs is the brightly-colored African dress. I can't really explain why--something about her stately walk and her older, weathered face, and maybe the small scarf on her head, and of course her beautiful ebony skin. At first I was a little intimidated of her, because she always looked a little mad. But one day as I passed her, I made a determined effort to make eye contact and smile. I was expecting for her to turn her head and not acknowledge me, but instead she gave me the most beautiful, wide smile of a variety of shapes and colors of teeth. But it was a genuine smile that lit up her entire face, which also seemed to hint at a little surprise that I had smiled at her.
Since then, I've seen her nearly every evening, and I always look forward to watching her stern face transform into a beautiful smiling face. A few days ago, I was sad because she did not smile at me. I was searching for some reason. What had I done? Did she not like what I was wearing? I was wearing shorts today! Maybe she didn't like my shorts! I seriously thought about it enough that the next day I wore capris. And she smiled again.
Well, today it was pretty hot, so I wore my shorts again. The first time I passed her, I was talking on the phone, but smiled at her and she returned the smile! (Guess the shorts are ok afterall!) The second time I passed her, I had been thinking about some things, so I'm pretty sure my face was a bit serious until I saw her. Then I smiled at her...and she gave me a big, long grin, and said something which I couldn't quite hear. As we passed I did hear her thickly-accented, "Thank you!"
I wasn't quite sure what to say, but I finished my walk with a bigger smile.
There's this one lady that I noticed a week or two ago. She looks like she's straight from a tourist brochure for an African country. All she needs is the brightly-colored African dress. I can't really explain why--something about her stately walk and her older, weathered face, and maybe the small scarf on her head, and of course her beautiful ebony skin. At first I was a little intimidated of her, because she always looked a little mad. But one day as I passed her, I made a determined effort to make eye contact and smile. I was expecting for her to turn her head and not acknowledge me, but instead she gave me the most beautiful, wide smile of a variety of shapes and colors of teeth. But it was a genuine smile that lit up her entire face, which also seemed to hint at a little surprise that I had smiled at her.
Well, today it was pretty hot, so I wore my shorts again. The first time I passed her, I was talking on the phone, but smiled at her and she returned the smile! (Guess the shorts are ok afterall!) The second time I passed her, I had been thinking about some things, so I'm pretty sure my face was a bit serious until I saw her. Then I smiled at her...and she gave me a big, long grin, and said something which I couldn't quite hear. As we passed I did hear her thickly-accented, "Thank you!"
I wasn't quite sure what to say, but I finished my walk with a bigger smile.
I like that smile paper idea. :D
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