Last night Tom and I split a Subway sandwich for dinner, sitting on the restaurant's deck overlooking what used to be an arm of Lake Travis. Car tracks were visible, cutting right down the middle of the dry, grassy lake bed.
Wanting a closer look, we headed to a nearby park, but we were distracted from our lake quest by a wide field dotted with campers, trailers and trucks. A red one in the middle caught our eye, boasting "Culpepper and Merriweather Circus" in large, white old-fashioned lettering across its paneled side.
Nearby, a few men worked as a team rolling up what we guessed to be the performance tent. Two horses – one "regular" and one "mini" – were tethered near a trailer. Some people walked dogs near another trailer carrying rows of auditiorium-style seating, collapsed and waiting for the next town… the next show.
I wondered about their lives, how it must be to live on the road, going from one small town to the next. Watching them pack it all up like that was sweet and sad, all at the same time.
(Wouldn't you know, for once I didn't have my camera? I had even left my phone at home!)
And now for a few more of my sweet! moments from the past week…
Sunday: hearing just the words you need to hear at church; encouraging words (and donations) from friends supporting your writing; memories of your big brother
Monday: easily untangling business and computer knots from the night before; morning mist on the hills; taking a baby step forward on your personal history business; listening to your mother's voice telling stories of her life; tips from photographer friends; receiving a text from your middle son that says "I got the job!"
Tuesday: walking early enough to greet the first orange rays of the sun; a rowdy wind playing with your hair; learning new photography tricks from a friend
Wednesday: riding in a truck with the windows rolled down; hearing the caw of a crow and watching it swoop out of the woods and across the road; laughing with your son over snippets of "Community" on Hulu
Thursday: meeting friends for lunch and making plans to do it every week; following the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker until you find it behind a screen of oak leaves (and getting a few blurry photographs of it); meeting a deadline; chicken and mushroom pizza
Friday: working out to Elvis's "Number 1 Hits" CD; Belle's face peering in the window beside you, reminding you to take breaks from the computer screen to sit on the back step and cuddle with her; a husband who says "That's okay." when you tell him you're not going to make it to the grocery store today (again!); a son who offers to run to the small grocery store for a few things in the meantime; finally finishing your TABC certification; encouraging comments from strangers
Saturday: evening light on a vineyard; splitting a Subway sandwich with your sweetie on a deck as the sun begins to set; taking a walk along the bottom of a dry lake (sweet in the unique-ness… sad in the reality); watching a traveling circus roll up their tents, preparing to head to the next town
Sunday: late Mass (sleeping in!); a phone call from a dear friend you don't talk to often enough; looking forward to an afternoon with your daughter
I also have one belated Sweet! – I can finally announce that my oldest son got the job he was hoping for. Talk about an answered prayer! I couldn't mention it here until he gave notice at his current job. He and his girlfriend will finally live in the same town for the first time in their five-year relationship.
I hope you've had a week full of sweet! moments!I've found that, even on the toughest days, if I look really close and think hard about it, I can find at least one. And even just one is a flash of bright light in the gray.
What was a Sweet! moment in your week?
(I know you can think of at least one!)
Long Hollow 
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