What is a perfect date? Most people would define that answer by the results. You go to dinner, a movie, and maybe out for a drink after, then home to bed and the horizontal tango. That can be a lot of fun, I agree, but after a day of work, bills, and kids, it seems like more effort than I want to make.
For me, a perfect date would be a quiet stroll, at any time of the year to a nice quiet little restaurant. A stroll is the perfect time to hold hands, appreciate the beauty to be found, and share pleasant observations with someone. The conversation is slower more gentle and the smiles are quicker and more loving. The pressures of the day drift away as your heart calms and your soul is soothed, and when you dine, you find you appreciate your meal more.
I like small quiet restaurants, the ones without the artificial ambience and poor lighting. Fast food places are always in a hurry, even the walls seem to be pushing you out the door. We would sit at a table and soak in the quiet of the room while we perused the menu. I would order a light meal, maybe a salad and some soup, or even just dessert. I like linger a little while over coffee before leaving.
From the restaurant, we would go window-shopping. It’s fun to look at the displays. I like to look at the interesting displays that seem to be a scene from a movie or a book. Along the way, we would stop to read the memorial plaques on the buildings, often there is so much more information on them than just a date. Through all of this, there is drama, humor, and passion flowing all around you in the vignettes of other people’s lives that you see. We would smile when the old man played peek-a-boo with the little boy in the stroller. Cheer the man across the street trying to placate his angry lady, be grateful that we were not the homeless man wandering through life lost in his own world, and be amazed by the teens with their skateboards defying gravity and the laws of physics as the sailed through the day.
Finally, we would stroll home and watch the streetlights flicker on as the porch lights glowed to welcome their family home after a long day. We would bask in the comfort that poured from those homes, and carry that comfort with us on our stroll.
We would finish our date back at home in plenty of time to prepare for the next day. Our souls would feel lighter and hearts would be calm. The evening would end with the knowledge that I had shared time with someone. I would not feel like a pinball racing from one bumper to the next while my date tried for the perfect score.
