When Kindred Spirits Meet

Posted on August 25, 2019 by ShellyLFrancis

I had placed my little elephant on the concrete to take a pic and this little boy made a beeline for it. His mom yelled, “Stop, that’s not yours. Don’t touch it!” I looked up and saw him. And his little dinosaurs, and his little brother, who’d all come to the plaza to play in the fountain.

“Here you go. Can my elephant meet your dinosaur? You can hold him but I need to have him back….Can I take your picture?”

The encounter didn’t last long. He handed back the elephant, reluctantly. I kept taking pics. And moved on.

So, I’m on my free-range road trip visiting lots of people and places, and taking along my micro-elephants to focus my eye on the smallest meaningful moments and metaphors. These little guys (boy, his dinosaur, and my ellie) remind me how the littlest things can connect people, if we have the courage to stop and relate.

This morning, days later, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have been more generous and given the elephant to him. Note to self, perhaps I should carry extra elephants with me at all times.

P.S. Just noticed something. Look at the last pic and reflection…do you see the other elephant face? What is that!?

#connecting #micromoments #elephantlove #freerangeroadtrip #couragewaylife #relate #reframegame

Friday Night UnFrazzling Frolic

Posted on September 12, 2015 by ShellyLFrancis

My buddy Blue Duck and I went to the beach Friday night after work.

He and the other two ducks, Yellow and Pink, had spent a long week trying hard to stay in a row. When the clock hit 5:30 pm I suggested a jaunt. Yellow and Pink, workaholics they are, said no thank you. So Blue Duck and I went to the beach by ourselves.

Man, it felt good to walk on the sand and float in the waves. (Blue didn’t mind being tethered because you never know what rogue waves have planned at high tide.)

Blue spied a bottle coming in toward the shore. At first we expected a message inside.

What we saw was a whole ‘nother world, sloshing high tide inside under blue sky.

Blue just had to play Pirate, jumping on top, yelling “Ahoy!” to the boat passing by. He looked a bit silly but happy and isn’t that what Friday nights are for at the beach … for unfrazzling frolics?

Blue has amazing balance. He had fun pretending to swashbuckle with the bugs jumping nearby.

Better balance than me, who fell over laughing. My ankles got wet, so I said, “Let’s go sit down.”

We just sat there, we two, on the driftwood. We sat there inviting the sun to soak into my soles. It was nearing six-thirty. One hour til the September sundown.