Sometimes, not all-times... just sometimes, I agree with Maria from The Sound of Music... "Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good." It must be so, because SOMETIMES a truly serendipitous moment comes our way and there is really no reason for it. You think to yourself, "Is this a gift for good behavior?" but you can't think of anything you have done in the past decade that would earn you such a mercy. Or maybe that's what defines a "good life." We plunge through the days, weeks, months, schooling, working, callings, diapers, bills, tragedies and muck because when those moments come, no matter how brief, they're worth everything. I once had a day just like this one... I affectionately call it The Monday, but that is a story for another time. Today I will tell you about The Canal Walk...We reserve Friday nights for what we call NOF (Night O' Fun). A time where there is no housework, no homework, no church work, no work work, no work of any kind... only fun. May 16th, after work, we decided to go to Richmond's River District (an posh section of Richmond that we had left unexplored). I had been homemaking with my hair tied up, my shirt stained and the makeup long gone from the sweat of a hard day's work, but did that stop us from going out? I'm glad it didn't. As soon as Alex finished work we left, as we were, for a night on the town.
We started off with a perfect parking space - free and in the center of it all. We walked along the Flood Wall and the Canal until we found a charming place that sold homemade fruit smoothies. Stevie especially enjoyed that treat as we slurped away in the outdoor cafe. The weather was perfect and the sounds of the city were complimented by a slight touch of marshy river-nature. After draining our juice, we traveled down to a small boat where we took a historical tour of the canal. We laughed, learned and relaxed.
After the cruise we heard a tip that there was a free concert a half-mile down the river trail. So - we thought we would check it out. About halfway along our walk Alex said, "That sounds like Carbon Leaf." I refused to believe this of course because Carbon Leaf is only my favorite band ever. Mere minutes later my fears were buried as we wormed our way into a free concert featuring MY Carbon Leaf. If this wasn't already perfect enough, as soon as we arrived they began to play my most favorite song: "Let Your Troubles Roll By." Once the darkness settled and we had filled our fun bucket to overflowing, we headed home in a glaze of euphoria... only to find a top five favorite movie was just about to begin on TCM: (no commercials!) Lillies of The Field with Sidney Poitier.
I have used simple and abbreviated words to describe the indescribable. The Canal Walk, for us, was like an inside joke. We want everyone to enjoy it just as we did, but know that nobody probably ever will... and no amount of explaining can make you understand. I say only this much: If you haven't had a moment like this recently... we highly recommend it. Good or bad, we all need a Canal Walk once in a while. Beware: the hunt for Serendipity is more challenging than finding a Black Rhino in Little Rock, Arkansas. Good luck.
