Day 1

So today marks the official start of my now annual tradition -- I'm turning 44 today, so this is Day 1 of my 44 (plus) days of doing randomly kind and charitable things.

This year, I have been planning ahead a lot more than I did last year, and I've got a nice big list of possibilities in front of me. Some have dates attached, others are just to get to when I get a chance or feel inspired. However, for my first day, I hadn't really decided what to do yet.

But late yesterday, inspiration arrived. It became obvious what I should do on my first day. Problem solved. I mean, I couldn't take a chance on the bread getting moldy, right?

Wait, what do you mean "what bread?" ... The bread I got in the mail of course!

You know... the bread... for the ducks!

Okay, okay, I realize you have no idea what I'm talking about, and you may even be assuming I've lost my marbles. Or at least one of them.

But I haven't. So let me back up.

In my first post for this year, I talked a little about being inspired by all the people out there who gave me a steady stream of encouragement, ideas, and motivation. And then something interesting happened.

Yesterday, a package came.

I opened it up to find this:

Hmm... what in the world...?

What could be inside?

Well, duh. It said right on the lid what was inside: inspiration.

Yes, that's right. One of you went above and beyond. Someone, and I won't mention any names -- someone I've never actually even met in person, mind you -- sent me this amazing box full of stuff, for those days when I'm not sure what to do, or when I'm lacking the energy or motivation to come up with something good.

Seriously... how cool is that?

See? I really did get bread in the mail:

And on a wonderfully foggy morning, it seemed like a good time to find some worthy ducks...

These ducks were a little camera shy, but I feel like those are probably the best kind to feed bread to. If they come running up to you they may be a little too used to getting lots of duckie junk food from humans. Once I backed off, they got a little more interested in what I was doing.

So Day 1 is in the books, with an assist from a friend.

And lest you think I'm all about altruism, I have been known to go in for a little self-indulgence from time to time... especially on my birthday. While I was out I got myself a little breakfast from the only five-star gas station lunch counter I know of...

What's more self-indulgent than sharing photos of your food on the internet? And let me tell you, it tasted even better than it looks.

One down, forty-three-plus to go...