Pop-up Gifts 

Doesn’t “pop-up” sound like a pleasant surprise?

Do you hear the whack of a baseball bouncing high off the bat? Or did cool drops from a sprinkler kiss your body on your well-timed walk? Perhaps a tiny burst of color peeking through a crack in the sidewalk makes you stop. These are pop-up moments. Pop-up, a fun-to-say-word, is traceable to the mid-15 century, according to etymonline.com.

My recent favorite pop-up moments:

• A handsome box turtle popped out from his shell to say, “Hello there!” I am a fan of tortoises, that’s why I give him a lift across the street. His shell is hard but without deep, rough ridges and cracks. He retreats inside his shell as I carry him to a cool grassy spot by an opening in the fence. I hope his home is in the marshy place down the hill.  
• The blur of a brilliant flame-orange male Baltimore oriole that flies in front of me. No time to stop!
•  An impromptu conversation with our neighbor by our trash one evening. We talk and laugh. Despite living next door, seeing her outside is almost as rare as seeing a Baltimore oriole. She’s a homebody.
•  At the farmer’s market, one vendor and I marvel over the beauty of beets. She uses the vegetable as a natural sweetener in her delicious granola. She also eats them raw and roasts them. Golden beets are popular now but it’s red beets that please my tastebuds. Cooked, please. My dad grew beets and they are the best beets ever. So many beets taste like old dirt! Not his.
• It’s been so hot and dry, I wonder why there’s a mushroom in our yard? A yellow disc-shaped ‘shroom shows up near our breakfast nook (two chairs and an umbrella) where my husband and I sip strong Cuban coffee in the cool shade each morning.

My husband and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary this weekend. Did you know that to pop the question dates back to 1725? Nearly 22 years ago, my husband asks me to marry him on a sunny, cold winter day in our favorite Henry Moore sculpture garden. It is the first of many surprises we share in our marriage.

May you delight in pop-ups wherever you find them!