Happy Things

There are just a few things I want to share with you right now. 3 hodgepodgy things that have made me happy lately in unique ways, and I feel really create something magical when combined. Not that i experienced them all at the same time but as a collection, they really shine.

1. Yesterday I was driving on a gloomy rainy gross day.  It wasn't rain, it was snow. But it wasn't snow, it was wetter than that.  What was it then? Snain.  It's just disgusting.  It's like you feel gross on the inside. Anyway, so I'm in the car at a red light and I watched this guy cross the street in the midst of a questionable umbrella experience that was my own delight. For at least 5 blissful seconds I watched him carry his umbrella like this:

 

What you are looking at is a man whose umbrella has collapsed yet he remains unawares.  He finally realized he was not, in fact, being kept dry, and looked up to investigate at least 3 times before he fully digested the situation, rectified it, and I was so, so pleased. I laughed all the way home.

2. Baby elephants make me happy. I just saw a picture of one in the Smithsonian magazine and I always knew I loved baby elephants but when I saw this picture I literally gasped and exclaimed, "I love baby elephants!"  And somehow, shouting it to the heavens, or my apartment, made it official, a declaration.  And I seal it further by putting it here. Examine:

WAAGH, brand new fuzzy baby elephant!

 BAH. Baby elephant playing with ducks!

I love them because they're adorable. I love them because they're identical to their parents. They are mini-adults.  Not like human babies who don't look at all like adults, which is a VERY good thing because then we'd all run screaming, far far away because they'd look like this:

AAAH! Look away!

And I don't know what it is, but when I see a mom and baby elephant, it's like Julian and I are looking in a mirror.  I see us.  When he was a baby-lad, baby animals all used to remind me of him, but now, though he's out of his babyhood, he is still a baby elephant to me.    

Here we are just out for a casual stroll in the savanna: 

3. Today I was in a bit of a sour mood. Baby elephant was grumpy, I was grumpy, and he and I were walking back to the train from the Brooklyn Bridge.  We were waiting to cross a street and while we waited, we were facing a girl who was also waiting to cross the street. This girl was alone and had her camera out and the hugest smile on her face.  I was like, ok, what are you so happy about, champ.  The light was about 3 hours long so we watched her a good long while, taking pictures and smiling at something in the distance. I finally realized she was seeing the bridge, maybe for the first time?  And she looked like this:

And I turned around to look at it too, and then I didn't feel so sad.

What are your happy things?