Saturday, September 30, 2017

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

"There's a space on the other side," I said to my husband when we saw that a car was blocking the gas pump where we wanted to park. Howard was driving around toward the pumps on the other side when a car turned in ahead of us. Leaving us a little room, the driver went to the second pump. Behind him, our hose barely reached our car!

Just then the man who was getting ready to pump gas got back into his car and pulled it forward a few feet!

"Thank you!" my spouse said in surprise, to which the other customer replied cheerfully, "No problem! There is enough room for all of us here!"

"That's a polite man," Howard remarked, and I agreed. The stranger's words reminded me of something I heard on TV from a man a few days ago, referring to different beliefs and racial prejudices. He said something like "This is a big country. There's room for everyone here!"

"What is that sound I hear?" I asked my husband that night at bed time. He couldn't hear it at first, but when I laid my head on the pillow, the sound resonated over and over. I could not get to sleep because of the steady, staccato noise. Finally I got up and checked for faucet drips, barking dogs, appliance noise or whatever I could think of. At last I must have slept, but in the wee hours I awoke to it again. It had to be dogs barking! I concluded.

Today as we were driving home the back way, I noted that the Standing Bear Pow-Wow had begun. We passed the huge gathering, glancing toward the concession stands and all the cars and people there. Howard put the window down for a better view, and then it hit me! Drums were booming loudly in pulsating rhythm. We looked at each other and said in recognition, "That's what we heard last night!"

The mystery was solved! Thinking of our diverse population, I had to agree with the statement of the man at the gas station and the man on TV: "This is a big country. There's room for all of us here!"

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