Romance: The Ping

 

First, I can't stand Will Ferrell. I avoid his movies unless I'm subjected to undue pressure. I don't even know why I watched this silly, sappy clip once I saw his face. However, if Maggie Gyllenhaal came into the room and sat on my lap while I was playing my guitar, I'd put aside my guitar and let her have her way. I would not shove it to the floor like they did, but he's obviously not playing a Gibson so who cares?

I'm a romantic, in a black leather, bare feet, and white wine kind of way, and I'm a sucker for a man playing a guitar (or dancing me around the living room or maybe even singing to the radio in the car....), and I'm a sucker for those little moments that make something inside me go ping. Oh, I do love that feeling. ping It's kind of addictive, that feeling. I have to admit the irony that most of those ping moments can't even be defined as momentous. In fact, when those moments happen, an onlooker probably wouldn't discern that anything special happened at all. Oh, sometimes a stranger will make a comment to me about how happy I look, because I really do wear everything I feel on my face, but that's what shows, not the thing that happened.

Do you know what I mean by those ping moments? The ones that could even be called mundane, except that you feel like the stars lined up and the Universe said, "hey, I think I'll give her a little gift for no reason at all," and you just know you're in the right place at the right time and you wouldn't want to be anyplace else because everything is fucking perfect? Those times when you're just walking along the street holding hands with someone, or you put your heads together and laugh until one of you has to run and pee, or you're singing and the melody and the harmony come in so tight and sweet you get a shiver, or you take a bite of something you've never tasted before off his fork and it's so yummy you don't want to swallow it, or you're just sitting on the porch swinging and talking softly, or he says something funny and you squirt wine through your nose, or maybe you both cry at the end of a movie and then you laugh because his shirt is wet with your tears, or you lock eyes just before his lips touch yours, or you watch him drive away and know you'll see him again soon but you watch until he's out of sight just in case.... I'm really addicted to these crazy, ordinary, unexpected pings. If I could call anything a spiritual moment, these would be the moments.* If I could bottle them up like milk licker, I would do it.

For me today though, it's a trip to the mall to get my glasses fixed and a long, fast bike ride so I can justify stopping at DQ later this afternoon. And then maybe a cheap movie with my son and his girlfriend later tonight. Probably no romantic pings, but by the end of the day, I will have had some just right moments, and you won't find me complaining about that one bit. So tell me: what makes you ping?


*All pings aren't romantic. But for the title of this post to work, that's the kind I'm talking about. Besides they're some of the most unexpected and best, aren't they?