Tuesday, August 01, 2006

JUICY TIDBITS

I just ate my first fresh tomato of the season. Paul brought it home from a lady at work. I LOVE tomatoes. Each time I eat one I think of my grandpa. I used to stand in his garden and pick a fresh tomato with him. We'd wipe the dirt on our pants and eat them like apples. Then later in the fall, when our apple tree was full of fruit, he'd hold me up to pick the one I wanted. Then he'd pull his pocket knife out and slice the apple right there and hand me slices right off the blade. We'd share an apple right under the tree. This was all back in the day when it didn't bother me a bit to have juice running down my chin onto my neck.
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Yesterday we were at Six Flags. It was 99 degrees. With a heat index of 106. It was MISERABLE. Paul and I spent the day going into shows and sitting in restaurants reading the paper. This was a day for the kids following a big youth rally so it was not like we just got it into our heads to be at a theme park on the hottest day of the year. The kids had fun. Anyway, we had spent the night at the Holiday Inn right by the park and we took their shuttle bus over so we wouldn't have to pay to park. Then at the end of the day, we caught the shuttle bus back to the hotel. We waited about 10-15 minutes for the bus and were with several other people. Just waiting for those few minutes was very hot, especially at the end of such a hot day. When we started getting onto the bus, the driver reached down and opened a cooler and offered each of us an ice-cold bottle of water. We were all thrilled. As each person grabbed his water and said thanks, I was thinking "it's just a bottle of water but look how much it means to all of us." I put an extra tip in his jar. I just thought it was really thoughtful of him to provide that simple gesture that brought so many of us relief from the heat. Now we don't know if it was hotel policy or if he went out and did that on his own; but it was a welcome sight for all of us. I'm going to remind myself of that when I think there is nothing I can do for somebody who needs, well, something. I'm going to remind myself that sometimes the simplest of gestures makes a lasting impression. I'm going to remind myself that "it's just a bottle of water....."

3 comments:

Beaner said...

There's that verse in the Bible about a "cup of cold water" - sounds like your bus driver was a good provider!

Yeah....this was usually the weekend that the H.S./college kids went on the canoe trip. THAT would have been miserable!!!

Chris said...

You always have such neat stories! Blugs!

The Amazing Trips said...

Oh, I can just taste that tomato - and that apple, too. What a wonderful story & awesome memories. There are times, especially in blazing heat, nothing tastes as good as ice cold water. What a good man, your bus driver was!

I appreciate you dropping by my blog and leaving such a nice note. A good marriage is both finding the right person, and being the right person. Thanks for the reminder! :)