G'morning.

She hovered on the very edge of my peripheral vision, waiting for the clock to change before chiming "Mommmmmmy, its six-thirty". I had sensed her there earlier, but was waiting for it... eyes closed, unwillingly to officially wake up any earlier then I already had to.

She was going on a school trip today. We had a bus to catch. She was literally vibrating with excitement.

I stumbled out of bed only to see the cat attacking a bag of clean laundry ferociously. "hey, Ollie, stop that." But its adorable" chimed my two oldest. "Just don't try to pick up the bag."
I did, if only to move it to safety. Clean pillowcases descended on Ollie's head. He retreated to a safe distance and washed himself thoroughly.

They were ready, both of them, giggling at Ollie and looking expectantly at me.
I got dressed as fast as possible. Luckily in honor of the trip, I had just gotten the laundry done. So I could just slip on my new-favorite-heathered-purple-tee-shirt. My good jeans were clean too, that was excellent.
Dovi was still wandering around in underpants. "Hey Dovi, lets get you dressed." "But I was winning this level" he grumped frowning at me, picking up his Nintendo DS and starting to play. "Oh no you don't." I said. He let himself be dressed then went to brush his hair. Ollie danced around him, waiting to play.

We got ready in record time. "Mommy did you have your coffee yet?" said Adina her eyes sliding to the clock, like they had every two minutes for the past hour. "No, I'll have it right now." I said, sighing.

Just when we were ready to leave. I went and got Dovi a sweatshirt from the drawer under the bed. Inquisitive Ollie jumped into the drawer and disappeared into the bowels of the bed. "Ollie, where are you?" There was just quiet clunks and thuds. I rather bravely stuck my hand into the drawer with a possible-playful-cat but found nothing fuzzy in there anymore besides a few scarves and winter hats.

"Girls, wait a minute. Ollie is stuck under the bunk bed." They didn't even comment. I moved the bed with some difficulty and looked for him. There he was! He looked back at me, then sauntered out slowly and stretched.

We walked to school, fully appreciating the warm autumn day. It was going to be a beautiful sky today, clear and bright and blue as a fresh periwinkle crayon.
Adina was grinning like a Cheshire cat from ear to ear. She had a woolly Griffyndor-maroon hat jammed on her head. You don't need that hat, it's going to be so nice today.
"but I like it." she said swatting my hand away, and positioned it just right over her forehead.

Just as we turned into the school block, three large buses 45 degree-angled their way onto her street. "perfect timing" I said.

I have to admit, it was lovely, having a bit of an early start. Even if I did have to rush my coffee.

Match struck.

What if heaven and earth are mirror reflections of each other, and our human souls are bright flames, seen as stars to those who gaze down at the shadowed earth? What if we look up, and are really seeing souls? The inky blackness of the sky, could it be a mirrored quicksilver world in shadow?

Here on earth, we flicker in and out of each others lives, sometimes touching one another briefly, a barest flicker of acknowledgment between souls. Often these moments can be forgotten in an instant, or taken out and savored occasionally. Other moments, can cause deep impressions instantly, flaring like a newly struck match and dying out just as quickly, but leaving light spots in the vision that linger long after the light has passed on.

A few days ago, two strangers left deep impressions on me. I have been thinking about them both ever since.

The first, was in the Post Office. I walked in there, and got ready to address some envelopes, only to find the pens have long been yanked off their chains and been hijacked to new horizons.

I said aloud, mostly to myself (I do talk to myself occasionally)." Oh dear, I didn't bring my own pen."

She was right next to me trying to fill out her postal forms for a registered letter. Her English was broken and clumsy, but she smiled at me and offered me her pen. I said, "No wait, you need it, first check and see if you have another one." She produced another one from a bottomless Mary Poppins of a bag, and we both finished filling out the forms. She asked me to show her how to fill out the mail confirmation form and I showed her, then returned her pen and thanked her for her kindness.

We both reached the counter after a long wait. She gave the harassed Post Office worker her forms, but had not filled out one extra form she needed. She was told to go away and come back when the other form was filled out. She didn't understand, and just stood there, saying, "But I have waited so long, can you help me?".

The Postal worker was on her own, trying to handle the burgeoning lunch hour line, but she was unkind.

"Go away from my window, I can't deal with this."

When the woman did not comply, she moved herself to a different window and set up shop, pointedly ignoring the woman.

The woman was almost crying. I showed her and tried to explain what she needed to do, and she tried. She said, she was from Serbia, and just couldn't understand exactly what to do. She stood there for a few minutes, then shook her head sadly. Last I saw, she had slipped out and away.

The other encounter, was with a homeless lady, whom I first saw tucking her shirttails over a rather ample girth and trying to tuck it all into a pair of suit pants.

Something special must have been happening, she was wearing a suit and tie, and really was as clean and presentable as she could possibly be. As we passed her propped up suitcase of belongings, Adina pointed to something on the ground, a pair of glasses, broken, lying amongst the fall leaves littering the ground, the stems smashed. "Whose glasses are these?" Adina asked furrowing her brow. "They are mine," she said hurrying over. "but they are broken." said Adina.

she bent down with difficulty, "but I can't see!" her face was a picture of blank shock.

It looked like they had been sitting on her suitcase and had been jostled and trampled by some unseen passerby's.

She hugged herself cradling the smashed pieces.

"I probably have a pair at home, you can get your lenses fitted into them, that should be good for awhile. When will you be here?" I said.

"I am here this time every day, she said. I had never seen her before, so I wondered.

"Well,", I said "I pick up my kids every day around now. but I can leave them at the library in an envelope."

she went through her pockets frenetically, papers spilling out and blowing on the wind and getting lost in the leaves. "I am trying to find a paper to write down my name."

"No, don't worry, I will remember your name." I said.

"It is Monique." she said, "and what's yours?" I told her.

and I hoped, the glasses would work out for her. to be unable to see in a world already so precarious seemed almost unbearable to me...

Last I checked, she had not picked them up from the library.

Little gestures mean so very much... and I cannot stop thinking of these two women.