It may be just me, but as I\u2019m out walking today in my retirement community, I see love everywhere I look.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in the old man patiently trailing behind a large dog who stumbles along, probably older (in dog years) than the man on the other end of the leash.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in the goose couple nearby who round up their fluffy goslings and bookend them protectively as the dog passes.<\/p>\n
Love is on the dock on our pond, where a gentle aide murmurs in an older woman\u2019s ear as she turns the woman\u2019s wheelchair so she can feel the sun\u2019s warmth on her back.<\/p>\n
Below the dock, the enormous, armored backs of several snapping turtles surface, ancient heads tipped up expectantly, waiting to love the turtle food that showers from the dock once a day, provided by my retirement community, where these turtles may be the oldest residents of all.<\/p>\n
A great blue heron explodes into the air, swoops across the pond and lands again at the edge of the water. It\u2019s been here for days. I\u2019m sure it loves the pond for its sheltering trees and bounty of darting catfish\u2014promises of safety and a full belly.<\/p>\n
I feel a flush of love for the resident who stops to talk with me about the goose family, the heron and the red-winged blackbird we both saw yesterday, hopping along the fence that wraps its split-rail arms around the pond.<\/p>\n
In a few minutes, I\u2019ll go home to my small, black cat, who will curl up in my lap and give me even more love. But not before I\u2019m done loving the pond and what it\u2019s like to live in this peaceful place during the last years of my life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It may be just me, but as I\u2019m out walking today in my retirement community, I see love everywhere I look. It\u2019s in the old man patiently trailing behind a large dog who stumbles along, probably older (in dog years)…<\/span><\/p>\n