no expectations

saw something beautiful this morning ...

was walking my dogs near the park behind my house and non-predatorially spying on the little kids swinging. while marley was squatting in a patch of clovers, i heard a little dirty blonde boy who couldn't have been more than five and was probably a little less whisper to a girl about the same age with pigtails and popsicle all over her shirt, "i love you" ... and then run away with arms and legs flying in different directions to play with some other boys his age.

she looked at me, smiled then started making crooked hearts in the sand underneath the swingset.

reminded me of the last time i made sand hearts for someone, with our names scratched in the center ... alone on a beach in santa cruz while the sun slipped under the horizon, i drew them out carefully with a slip of driftwood and snapped a few photos. i had run away, too, and was trying to find the way back to the swingset for my popsicle girl.