“In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration:—feelings, too,
Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
As have no slight or trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man’s life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love….”

~William Wordsworth, 1798

The truck had stopped in the middle of the road.

Near our house, coming back from another early morning school drop-off, a truck had stopped just past the corner. I turned into our lane but before doing so, I glanced beyond the truck, curious as to what obstacle blocked it’s path.

It was a duck. Standing proud.

I only caught a glimpse, but it was enough to store a memory of a kind man waiting patiently when no one but a duck would notice. I took that memory, and replayed it several times in my mind throughout the day.

Sometimes I wonder if that’s where most of the good happens in the world, in the glimpses. Maybe all the good that we are longing for is really there, under our noses. Perhaps it all happens quietly, unassumingly, in the corners of our eyes – a door being held for a stranger, a small check being written out to a homeless shelter, a neighbor helping a neighbor, a parent helping a child with homework or a giving her a ride to school.

If it is, maybe that’s where the antidote is hidden, the antidote to all the streaming awfulness that passes as news. We can find it, there, in the corner of our eye. Look for the glimpses of kindness.

And look out for the ducks.

Today’s gift of time … A ride to school, a ride home, and a glimpse of kindness. 

To my readers … I know that, of late, I’ve taken some days off from the daily writing, but please rest assured that the daily gifts of time continue uninterrupted. No days off from what’s important.