* The unencumbered joy of Bingo while on his walk. Rolling, burrowing, paddling, jumping; you name it, he did it.
* The seemingly endlessly variants of vibrant green provided by the trees, bushes and grasses.
* The eye-catching splashes provided by an equally endless array of flowers. Dandelions and irises; poppies and forget-me-nots; clovers and foxgloves; cowslips and bullseyes; many more that I couldn't name...they littered the floor and bushes, peeking through the greenery; a confetti of colour.
* The view of birds on the wing. From the slow graceful swoop of a heron on its quest for a new resting place (uninterrupted by unwitting dog walkers such as myself), to the breathtakingly fast paced dips and dives of swallows and the languid hops of the jackdaws and crows on their quest for dinner, to the tantalisingly fleeting glimpses of sparrows, tits and wrens flitting through the grass stems on their quest to get on with the business of living unseen; it was all wonderful and left me feeling enriched.
* The faint but unmistakable shape of the moon, three quarters full, emerging from behind the picture perfect fluffy white clouds sailing their way along a gloriously blue and sun-kissed sky.
* The ball of teeny-weeny little spiders - bright yellow - that spread out into a star shape as I blew upon them gently.
~~~
SOUNDS.
* The small "squee!" of delight mother gave upon being presented with her all-time favourite meal at dinner-time.
* The giggles of glee coming from a toddler as she fed the ducks and geese by the side of the canal.
* The sigh of satisfaction of a young boy as he sat on top of the fence he had just climbed and looked around him.
* The glorious chorus of intermingling melodies and cries ringing out into the air, created by score upon score of birds; some of which I had seen, most of which I hadn't.
* The loud splashing sounds created by Bingo as he bantered about in the nearby river, hidden by the undergrowth he had just tunnelled through.
* The chirp of all the crickets that I knew were there, even though I saw sight-nor-sign of them.
~~~
SMELLS.
* The onions and garlic simmering merrily away in the frying pan as the aforementioned favourite meal was prepared.
* The mingled scents of baking bread and cakes, coffee and burnt chocolate wafting through the open doorway of Greg's.
* Tobacco (as opposed to the cannabis that is so popular around here), coming from the cigarettes that the people gathered outside of the pub were smoking as Bingo and I made our way home.
~~~
OTHER.
* The cool, smooth feeling underfoot as I walked across the newly vacuumed kitchen floor (which needs mopping, still, but I do not care).
* The brisk blasts of air filling my lungs as the wind rushed its way around me.
* The realisation that I could combine three previously (semi) worked out ideas into one and merge them with The Story so that the plot will begin to actually make some sense again (whee!).
* The pleasant, neighbourly smiles and nods given by all the people I passed by today (a vast improvement of the various scornful comments along the lines of "oi, fatty!" I have been getting).
* The satisfaction of a Job Well Done at work as I left The Store (a rare thing these days).
* The pleasure of spending a while in the company of Best Friend 3 on her birthday, as we ate breakfast, talked and laughed and I got to see the look on her face when she read the nice (and true) things I had written in her card.
~~~
...Ah yes.
T'was a good day indeed...
Alice x
