Kindness

Recently, I’ve been on the receiving end of various expressions of kindness: beds for the night, freshly picked garden flowers, warm meals, plant-fostering, space to store my bits and pieces. I have given too: conversation, wine, lamb tending, gratitude, tears. How precious such small acts are - how brilliantly they weave us back into the web of life even when we feel vulnerable.

A small dog and his human welcome me for two nights. I witness their nightly ritual - him lying in the arms of his human, limp with love; ritual over, he comes across the sofa and offers himself to me. Simple generosity. I repay with a morning walk in the bluebells and sticks thrown into the small stream. His four-pawed love undoes me. My heart fills and empties with all he has given and all I will miss when I move away.