Romance : noun
One foot in the warm sand, the other in the cool Columbia river. A familiar soft hand in mine. Walking due south, as the sun warms the right side of our faces.
“So, do you think this is romantic?”
“Ah, um, sure…”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“Well, I just never thought of it.”
“I have. This is very romantic to me.”
Several yards of footprints with no words…
“What do you think is romantic?”
A few more footprints…
“I like it when you open the door for me… and quality time…”
“Is this quality time?”
“Yes!”
We watch a dog eager to retrieve a floating object.
“Carpe Diem.”
“Ah yes, ‘Seize the day’, and I am enjoying this.”
“What else do you think is romantic?”
“I think it’s romantic when I see you interacting with the children.”
“Oh really? That’s interesting.”
“And when you take your daughters on a date, and bring them flowers on Valentines Day.”
“Hmm…?”
“Besides walking on the beach what else do consider romantic?”
“When you shop with me at Lowes, ha ha.”
“What? You are so engrossed in figuring square footages, colors, and textures you don’t even know I’m there.”
“So, where did we go in the middle of our Honeymoon?”
“Oh never mind.”
“Huh, huh? Where’d we go? To the grocery store, just to ‘window shop’! I’m guessing you thought that was romantic.”
“It was a big store, we didn’t have them in the U.P.”
“Now that I think of it, you don’t ask me to go shopping with you any more?”
“That’s because you spend too much money!”
“Ha, sounds like an old Country song, ‘You don’t take me grocery shopping any more’…”
“Your twang is annoying.”
Footprints are closer now.
“I think serving people together is romantic. We make a good team.”
“I guess I would say the same.”
“I think eating out can be romantic. How about you?”
“It can be, but a greasy Whopper? No!”
“Agreed.”
The footprints stop.
“Shall we sit on this log to watch the sunset and then head for some ice cream?”
“Now you’re talking romance!”
“What, the sunset or the ice cream? ha ha!”
Then we silently watch the sky rapidly change color.