Category Archives: surprise

floored.

Standard

ODE TO THE GUY IN THE FLOOR

stopped by my friend’s house

rebuilding

after the storm

while talking

looked over

 lo and behold

a builder guy

popped up

out of the floor

nonchalant

 half a body

hanging out

reading his phone

never looked up

happens everyday

all part of the process

nothing to see here

thanks, floor guy,

 

i think there will be more smiles when the smoke clears.’

-shaun alexander

*Shaun Alexander is a former American professional football running back who won the NFL Most Valuable Player award. 

‘don’t plan it all, let life surprise you a little.’ – julia alvarez

Standard

fifteen of us met in a parking lot

at the appointed time

boarded an unmarked rock ‘n roll party bus

equipped with a very patient driver

70-80’s style

disco lights, music, coolers, bevs, decor, ice

drove to our unsuspecting, just-retired friend’s house

got him on the bus and surprised him

then we were sixteen strong

drove him to detroit

to celebrate him

played games

had an axe throwing competition

(we were all unscathed)

followed by

a long delicious japanese dinner

rock ‘n roll bussed back

 laughing singing dancing storytelling hugging

 a day turned into a night to remember

he stood to speak

 said he could not believe it

he was overflowing with joy and tears

he was so happy.

‘the chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.’

-Kevin Kelly

unexpected places.

Standard

just curious

when waking up in the morning

at my friend’s house

why there was a large frying pan

on the bottom shelf of the nightstand

next to where i had been sleeping?

was this a hint that i was expected to chef our breakfast?

was this a self-defense weapon to use as needed?

had someone forgotten where they set down their pan?

had someone gone on a late-night eating in bed food bender?

when i inquired, one answered:

‘oh, is that the one that is usually hanging in the closet?’

what, there’s one usually hanging in the closet?

another answered:

‘what frying pan?’

host woke up and said,

‘ i was going to give that one away.’

oh, of course.

that’s the perfect place to leave it to remember to give it away.

 i loved waking up with a surprise, a mystery, and a smile.

(and there really was an even larger frying pan hanging in the hall closet.)

“there are almost unlimited possibilities for making discoveries and to uncover the unknown.

it is in the nature of the discovery that it can not be planned or programmed.

-on the contrary, it consists of surprises and appears many times in the most unexpected places.”

-bengt i. samuelsson

shared.

Standard

 a delightful surprise

getting back into the car

thinking of my next stop

  a gentle knock on my window

opened to hear a smiling stranger say,

‘i just wanted to give these to you, have a beautiful day.’

 holding this lovely little bouquet

making my way back into the day

made all the sweeter with this gift.

 

“happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.”

john arrigan

do not forget alphabets.

Standard

for the second time

we tried to surprise

a dear friend

to celebrate her milestone birthday

and round two came very close to not happening

when life circumstances intervened

just a few hours before.

 we quickly began planning

what our third attempt would look like

when she turned the tables

and surprised all of us

by showing up

at the appointed hour.

“new friends may be poems but old friends are alphabets.

do not forget alphabets, because you will need them to read the poems.”

*author: not shakespeare

*this is another one of those quotes that seems to have come up someplace and wandered around a bit until someone put “shakespeare once said…” in front of it and it stuck.  

rock out.

Standard

when you’re little

 walking around the museum

 see a big old bumpy boring rock

walk around to the front of it

 find an amazing, amazing surprise

that is inside of it

you just have to touch it

 there are no words.

“sometimes the most shocking surprises are the most beautiful surprises.”

-lori wilhite

 

little something.

Standard

love to do last-minute surprise drop-offs of cards and tiny gifts.

 

“christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”

-charles m. schulz

image credit: etsy.com

be unprepared.

Standard

when an unexpected robot cat rolls up to deliver your dinner and gives you a wink

 just smile and wink back.

 

“be unprepared. that’s my motto. let life surprise you.”

-marty rubin

seize us.

Standard

so fun surprising my friend who loved being surprised fully embracing the moment

“the moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. it is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.”

-ashley montagu, british/american anthropologist

it fell from the sky.

Standard

after last week’s surprise package of tempting treats

another food surprise arrived

 a couple of breakfast meals

seem to have fallen from the sky

right to my front door

this time delivered by grub hub 

with no address on the receipt 

delivered in the morning when i was at school

 huge portions of pancakes and eggs benedict

i’m sure they were hot and delicious when they arrived

another set of challenges to my healthy eating

testing my temptation limits

is my door the common delivery area for every address on my street?

what will appear next?

should i leave snacks and drinks out for all of the delivery people yet to come?

“when fortune knocks open the door.”

-proverb