Oases

I’ve been the recipient of many acts of kindness during my post-retirement travels.

From Antarctica in February 2017 to Egypt in February 2020,

the last trip I took before the pandemic froze us all,

I have, in this world roiling with so much anger and hatred,

experienced moments of respite, islands of aloha, from all that rancor.

Someone bought me a cup of coffee, a bus driver allowed me to ride for free,

a ferry boat operator let me aboard without paying,

the admission fee to a closed art exhibit was waived,

a bride and groom asked me to be part of their wedding photo shoot, and more.

I have been blessed to meet people all over the world who have in various ways

demonstrated that my ethnicity has not been a barrier to their being kind.

When I stumbled across these memories today,

I sat wondering if maybe these warm-hearted gestures

might actually be the highlights of my journeys,

and I hoped that I’d acted reciprocally along the way,

showed kindness to as many strangers or more in the same manner.