Dear _____,

Neighbor practicing the recorder late one evening…  All those minor scales made me feel like something spooky or mysterious should have been happening.  (But it was an entirely ordinary evening.  Which I’m totally fine with.)

 

Trio of bulls with formidable horns…  Is it weird that I (and every other pedestrian) just walk right past you as you rummage through trash on the side of the road, and no one seems the least bit perturbed?  No is like, “Man, those creatures are scary – look at them horns!”

 

BBC radio…  Yes, the rare occasions that tune in listen to you are mostly because I enjoy the accents.  But I always end up learning something, too.  The other night I learned a bit about the thumb piano.  Isn’t it a cute little instrument?

 

Honk-happy bus driver…  Ow, my ears.  Please?  Not so loud!

 

Pair of turkeys perched on a brick wall…  I don’t suppose you’re much into trivia, but did you know that Benjamin Franklin thought turkeys should be the national bird of the U.S. instead of the bald eagle?  And on an unrelated note, where were you Thanksgiving Day?  Your presence was missed at the table.  Or more accurately, on the table…properly dressed and cooked, of course, not in your present state.

 

Jambon de bœuf [literally “ham of beef”]…  You don’t taste bad, but I feel like you’re a contradiction of terms.  Ham?  Beef?  Two different animals, man.

 

Piles of cement bags and rebar…  You make me feel like I’m back at Home Depot.  Okay, not quite.  You remind me of when I was working at Home Depot, let’s put it that way.  (Miss you guys!)

 

Transmission towers…  Um…are you supposed to be sparking like that?  I find it a bit unnerving.

 

Singing lady walking behind me…  It had been an exhausting day – I was about done with sand and feeling stupid and having people laugh at me.  Then as I was walking home from the store, I heard something that seemed familiar somehow.  So I strained to hear what you were singing.  “We hope in You, oh Lord…”  It was a song I’d heard in church.  How cool is that?!

 

French radio station…  I could have danced (or cried) for joy when I was flipping through stations one night, and realized I could understand not just isolated words and phrases, but several solid minutes of news commentary.  (This does not happen all the time, but the fact that it happened at all is cause for rejoicing.)  And hey, you even mentioned California!!

 

Baton-twirling security guard…  Hey, don’t hit me with that thing!

 

Car rapide…  I’m always caught off guard by the random bits of English I see here from time to time.  You had “I love you” painted across your front bumper, complete with a heart and arrow.  I almost laughed out loud when I saw that.

 

Polite motorist…  I’m used to guys on motos nearly knocking me down, then speeding off on their merry little way without the slightest pause.  (I’m sure these incidents have taken several years off my life already.)  So when you nearly ran into me as I was crossing the street, I expected the same thing.  You actually looked back and said, “Sorry!  So sorry!”  I have to say, that courtesy made my day.

 

 

Incredibly small, incredibly cute gecko that has taken up residence with me…  You have absolutely no idea how happy I am to have another gecko.  I didn’t think it was possible for geckos to be smaller than Rue was, but you are.  My first thought for a name was Ebenezer, but that name is longer than you are!  So…Eb it is.

 

Girltalk…  Thank you for this timely read on comparison.

 

Kari Jobe…  Thank you for this beautiful version of “Be Still, My Soul”.  Stillness is something my soul needs more of these days…