The Perfect Target Shopping Cart

I was already having a pretty good day when I walked into Target to get some food, grabbed a cart and magically found myself gifted with the most perfect—cart—ever.  No wonky wheels, no squeaky wheels, no grimy handlebar, no used tissue in the basket.  The cart rolled so smoothly and so beautifully that if my day had ended there, if I had simply left Target and went home to bed—it would have been a win.

My day actually started at the Wetlands where I spotted my first Purple Gallinule thanks to two other photographers standing in the grass by the side of the road.  I didn’t know what they were looking at initially, but then I spotted a bit of color among the tall grass and reeds and even though I still wasn’t quite sure what was out there, I pointed my camera in the same direction as the other two photographers and started taking pictures.

The Purple Gallinule is a lot like its cousin the Moorhen, otherwise known as the Common Gallinule.  Both have the same candy corn beak, but the Moorhen has a black body and head and the Purple Gallinule is … well … purple.  But up until today I didn’t know if that purple coloring was subtle or vibrant.

As it turns out, it is very vibrant.  Wow.

I also was able to get pictures today of the Great Blue Heron with her two babies.  Last year the Great Blue Heron babies died in alarming numbers at the Wetlands due to the lack of food.  I saw a mother heron trying to feed her babies a snake one day.  She was unsuccessful and the babies died shortly after.

But I have greater hopes for the nests this year.  Today’s nest featured two babies and a catch of at least three fish that the mother had to keep repeatedly stabbing with her beak to make sure they were fully dead.  The mother kept one fish for herself and worked with the babies to help them with fish that were almost as big as they were.

Blue skies and beautiful birds.  That was how my morning started.

And then I went to Target and found the perfect cart.

The blessings continued.  On my way to visit family, I stopped at an antique store that was having a huge sale on a very busy street.  I’m always on the lookout for windows to use as frames for my pictures and there were two windows right out there for me to grab—if only I could find a parking spot.

I made one loop and despite the traffic, the space suddenly appeared.

I pulled in, hopped out, speed-walked to the windows, haggled with the woman over price (something I never would have dreamed of doing a few years ago, but watching HGTV all day changes a person), and left with my two windows.

It was a day of deep breaths, of “thank you’s.”  It was a day spent with family and good food.  It was a day of such good news from family that I rejoiced as if their good news had actually happened to me.

That was the mood of the day.

It was a day to peek inside that wardrobe at the thrift store because—why not?

It was a day anything could happen—even Narnia.