Photo credit: Robin Malmanger

By Dave Markwell

Cruising through our little town this afternoon, I enjoyed the window down and the bright sun on my face. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in enjoying a nice day. The world was buzzing. This was fine with me. Sharing joy always expands it.

As I strolled through the marina and Beach Park, I saw people I know. I saw the old cabin I once lived in as a care-taker in the park – a different lifetime ago. I walked over a long-buried pool at the promenade and remembered raking rocks over the top of it, prepping for topsoil to sod, ending its time as a thing. I meandered past the little strip of sandy beach where, as a boy, I engaged in a seaweed fight with a boat tourist kid who had a pet raccoon. The fight ended when he hid a rock in his clump and hit me in the head. He ran to deep water, but I caught him and pounded him. His raccoon was uninjured.

Recollecting my own catalog of memories, I see lots of people looking at the things I see and wonder what they remember. I’m sure they have interesting stories – fond memories of a first kiss, or their kid learning to ride his bike in the parking lot, or fishing off the pier, or sitting in a car asking life’s big questions while the sun’s rays reflect off the water.

Softly reclining on a bench soaking up the afternoon and its people, I ask these big questions with the sun on my face, finding few answers. I’m not sure of much, but I believe that the world is a fine place. I’m sure of this.

Dave Markwell is a life-long Des Moines liver and lover. Former owner of Waterland CrossFit and the Waterland Arcade, Dave is now using his unique story-telling voice to help small businesses tell a better story, and his love for people to help folks live bigger and better lives.

For more info. check out his website: wordsbydave.net.

He can be contacted at: [email protected].