There is the occasional time when discouragement slithers in under the guise of common sense, and hisses, “Sorry babe, it ain’t ever gonna happen!”

Such a weight of deflated dreams descended on me for no particular reason last week, right in the middle of  grocery day.  Feeling grim and bereft, I tossed items into a supermarket cart, and wandered around until I found myself looking at this enormous fabric creature perched on a stack of plastic storage bins –

 It  didn’t belong where I found it.  Someone had set it down there,  just in time for me and my mood.  The red heart and goofy smile felt like a love letter of reassurance. My spirits rose.  Cart and I continued on and rounded a corner.  The caption on an outsize shirt shouted  –

The load of doubt dissolved and I smiled in spite of myself. How could I help it when the very space around me seemed to conspire in my favour?  [My friend, Rosalyne, calls this phenomenon Universal Synchronicity.)

It’s amazing how a single special moment can

My mum used to say, 

Look at this –

Never too old …

Radical, thrilling!

that

I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

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I took this picture last week – 

, chuckling at memories of a friend who once told me her family tree was composed entirely of fruits and nuts!  I grinned and remembered a recent moment at the bulk food store, when I unintentionally eavesdropped on a brief conversation.

“Could you tell me where the hazelnuts are?” a man asked.

, sir. In the nut aisle,” the assistant replied. 

My mind boggled as I began to visualize the faces I’d find on the shelves of the nut aisle.  

…

Who??

 Pretty much anyone who thinks

  , I suppose, and that would include me, for sure!

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There are three kinds of people in this world –

(1) The (2) The non-dreamer

and

(3) The dream-killer

• The dreamer – that’s you (if you’re a nut!)
• The non-dreamer – the one who  regrets his inability to dream big crazy dreams, and might enjoy living vicariously through you
• The dream-killer — the practical, down-to-earth sort of person who feels duty-bound to tell you that it’s time to grow up and stop wasting your time.

Here’s the deal – 

Of course

and believes in the dream.

Dear fellow nut, do you know you have a

 Of course,

, so 

and 

Above all 

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So …

At the end of life’s journey, I want to be able to say,

---

Well –

 

…

---

, but big or small

A toast to all the dreaming nuts (and fruits) out there –