The Perfect Way to Enjoy a Spring Afternoon

Decide that you have nowhere to be and no specific time to be there.

Invite a sweet little girl to go for a walk along the river.

Hold hands while you walk.

Notice all the flowers as you go and try to identify as many birdsongs as you can.

Hold a small hand so the little girl can walk along a stone wall and jump off at the end.

Pick giant handfuls of dandelions gone to seed and make as many wishes as you possibly can.

Remind each other not to tell what the wishes were or they won't come true.

Tell the little girl that when you were small, you used to wish for a fluffy white kitten with blue eyes.

Admire the colorful butterflies she points out to you.

When she says she feels like running in the wide-open grassy space, watch her go.

When she comes back, tell her that when you were small, you used to imagine you were a white horse named Wildfire.

Show her how you used to gallop across a grassy field with your friends when you were six years old.

Hum the song Wildfire by Michael Murphey.

Admire beautiful shimmery green clumps of elm seeds and tell her why they are special to someone your age.

Watch an eagle fly overhead.

Hear a giant woodpecker and stop to look for it.

Watch it fly by and marvel at its enormous size and unusual appearance.

Comfort her when she realizes she has lost something she brought along.

Help her look for it even though it takes an extra hour.

Walk home hand-in-hand.

Appreciate the preciousness of a perfect sunny spring afternoon.