Wrigley, stop! Wrigley, no!

Wrigley, stop! Wrigley, no!

NOT.

Out walking in this beautiful spring weather and ran into some neighbors I’d not seen in what felt like forever. (“Forever” translation: the pandemic.) They had a beautiful, bouncing up-and-down (and new to me), golden retriever with them in their yard. The aforementioned Wrigley.

Wrigley spots me in the street and, despite his owners’ commands, heads right for me. This is not a dog who will be stopped! He sits down, head tilted up, ardently looking me in the eyes. (Let’s face it, I’m totally charmed, even if it is the middle of the street.) The commands keep coming, but apparently only I hear them. He then lays down completely, belly up, on the street in front of me - all 70+ lbs of “I adore you, Jan.” Did I say I was charmed?

Wrigley!!!!

Right at this juncture, a large SUV pulls up and stops. They are clearly golfers heading to the local nine-hole course on old farmland adjacent to our neighborhood. Players coming to the golf course often forget they are speeding through a residential neighborhood. (Tee time! Tee time!)  Trust me, words and indelicate gestures between golfers and neighborhood walkers are not infrequent.

Returning to our supine Wrigley in the middle of the street, his owner running to him, the stopped golfers in the SUV, and, oh yes, me standing there wondering what’s going to happen next. Wrigley’s owner entices him back into his yard. The golfers are laughing and wildly waving goodbye, with many thanks for a good show. And I’m having a ball!

Put together beautiful spring weather, an absolutely over-the-top golden retriever puppy, and golfers smitten by this neighborhood moment, and what do you get? A bit of magic for everybody. Here’s to consciously celebrating the many small magical moments in our lives (although I don’t think Wrigley is up for hire.)

First posted April, 2022