Spontaneous Walks in the Daytime

I could hear my lunch, a cheeseburger, sizzling away, beginning to fill my house with the seeming smell of a grill. I opened my shades, drank my lemonade, dug into my burger, and watched leaves fall from the tall, ancient tree in my yard. My cat happily joined me in the chair across mine, sprawling himself out to full length. After what felt like five minutes stretched into twenty, I cleaned up and picked up my favorite book, its yellowing pages the only sign of its age. As soon as I sat down, I heard my phone ring. Once, twice, and I picked it up. My friend’s cheery voice on the line promptly asked me if I was home, and, to my surprise, I noticed her flat beige car parked along the driveway. She and her friend, who I hadn't met until this moment, trekked up the sidewalk and towards my door, and I went to greet them, leading them through the doorway and into my kitchen. We chatted at the table for a few minutes in an attempt to decide where we wanted to walk to. Of course, I had to pick my favorite park, to which we all happily agreed, and I packed my little backpack as we filed out the front door. The fall foliage was crumbling under our sneakers as we made our way along the path, seemingly as sing-songy as the excitable birds flying our way. The sun reached its peak and began to bow as we made our way back to my front door. We hugged and parted ways, the door closing behind me as they drove out of view. It’s so easy to neglect the joy of the unplanned.