This lovely piece, by author Patiana  McMahon, embodies the spirit of the daily engagement write -- the writer's alert, moment to moment interaction with her inner and outer environment.

Untangling a blue and gray shopping cart from their chain at the entrance to Wal-Mart, I felt slightly embarrassed to be shopping there. But their low prices and the ability to shop for both food and various sundry items also lent me a sense of alignment with the other shoppers.

Beneath a large overhanging sign which read "Hardware" I spotted a rare blue vested "employee" whom I approached to ask where I might find felt squares for the legs of my chairs. Behind her wire framed glasses, her left iris clung to the inside corner of her eye, like a shy child. It was that eye I spoke to, not wanting to call attention to my noticing it by avoiding it. The woman seemed relieved to be interrupted from her task and accurately directed me to the felt.

Afterwards I passed her lane again just so I could thank her.

Near "Sporting Goods" I heard a young girl's plea ending with "daddy." Then I saw  her father wearing a navy blue jumpsuit with his name sewn onto a label above his breast pocket. Nearly half of his face was covered with a port wine mark.

Heading back towards the front of the store, down one of the wider aisles, I passed a woman slightly older than me, pushing a wheelchair in the opposite direction. The man in the chair sat bent at the waist; like a tree snapped in half by a storm, his head nearly resting on his knee. His eyes had a faraway look. I wondered if he was aware of his distorted shape.

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