A message from an old friend appeared in my phone this morning. I was walking to the corner shop to buy bread when it arrived - the gentle vibration causing my brow to furrow as I made my way across the green outside our house. After fishing the phone from my pocket, the name in the notification caused the biggest smile to spread across my face.
The lady in the corner shop must have thought I was quite mad. While I normally exchange pleasantries with her, today I stopped and talked - asking how she was.
On my way back towards the house, I smiled again - at the universe’s antics - and how a few words in a message can percolate through the rest of a day - rippling out through one life after another.
This afternoon the thunder clouds have encircled once more - for real this time. We’ve fetched the washing in from the line. The cats can feel it coming - they’ve congregated indoors and are threatening to attack each other for reasons they can’t quite fathom.
Me? I’m still smiling.
Maybe the world isn’t always so bad after all.