She talked to the flowers

This morning I was walking my dog and just a few feet in front of me was a little blond girl, maybe four or five, who was walking very slowly. And in between walking very slowly she\’d stop at every single flower, lean in, inhale and then walk to the next.

In Santa Monica, CA, this could take awhile as there are flowers and tended gardens everywhere. And apparently it was as the father, who obviously trying to get somewhere, was further ahead of her pushing her baby brother in a stroller, called out to her, \”Honey, you don\’t have to smell every flower\”

To which she replied in all earnestness, \”Oh, but Daddy, I do!\”

At this point, the father sighed that sigh of \’I tried\’ and just waited at the corner while he daughter greeted and smelled every flower in that block. And since I was walking my dog who was the same size as her and excited by her little bouncy movements, I stopped moving and just stood with Jack as we watched her do what she needed to do.

And somehow, even though all the grown ups had to get somewhere, even though this would probably make us late, and it was something we maybe didn\’t comprehend, it ended up being one of the best walks as I think we all saw new things.

And I know I learned something: that yellow flower #4 on the left is called \”Rebecca\”.