BALLOON MAGIC IN THE MIDDLE OF VEHICULAR ANARCHY

I saw magic the other day. I was going through an intersection on the way to Emmy's house. It was one of the 3-way-stops where the drivers are simply trusted to do the right thing. Typically I have issues with 3 and 4 way stops. It's like the city said, "We're tired. Play nice." And except for the good manners of the drivers, it could be vehicular anarchy out there. But anyway....

I was tooling along up to this 3-way-stop and an unfettered green helium balloon, kinda sorta on its last leg, was floating through the intersection. I had my earphones on and was already in a good place emotionally so there I was, stopped at the sign, watching this floaty, blowy, green orb making its way through the neighborhood stop. What was interesting was the reaction of the other two drivers. Each of us drove slowly and deliberately around the balloon. It was like we were afraid to disturb it. Obviously we were all adults, but we each appeared to be transfixed by this lighter-than-air traveler. We stopped, waited, turned, maneuvered, anything to avoid the balloon and allow it to continue traveling. When the balloon finally passed through the intersection we each traveled on our way and we were all smiling. It was just a little bit of magic in the middle of the day, shared by some strangers who got to be children for a few moments while stuck in the anonymity of our cars. Magic.