Vanishing Act
The odds are looking pretty good that this little bit of nowhere will be running silent for the next week. Why, you may ask? Does it have anything to do with that escaped tiger reported last night? Or perhaps it has something to do with the kidnapping of about 100,000 monkeys and their typewriters as they tried to write
King Lear.
Actually, the simple answer is that I shall be in Connecticut, spending some quality time with my beautiful fiancee and saucy wench, Mel. And it's much deserved, much desired and much needed quality time too. I find it rather sad that it's roughly 2 1/2 months before the wedding, and the last time we got to spend time together was two months ago. But that's the evils of international romances.
But I am planning on surprising her at work with a tiger, and 100,000 Shakespearean monkeys and their typewriters. Hmm...in retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have written that here, since that whole public notice thing tends to destroy the whole "surprising" aspect. Oh well, at least her co-workers will be surprised!
I will leave you all with this thought I had yesterday: it was a beautiful warm day, and I spent a good portion of the afternoon sprawled out on the grass in the shade of a tree, staring up at the clouds in the blue sky. Taking the time to do that helped melt all my tension, fears and doubts away. I'm not saying I tried to ignore or forget them entirely, but escaping for a short while into the quiet tranquility of watching the sky proved incredibly uplifting. I think more people should take the time to sit back and stare up at the sky, not really caring to think about anything at all.
It's the effort of turning one's mind off that's the harder part, though, as opposed to just looking up.
Today's world is moving at such a fast rate that everyone seems to be coiling into tensile springs ready to just snap and lash out in any direction. But it's interesting to realize that despite the speed of the world, it's not going to run away on you if you take a few minutes or even a few hours each day to unwind and be carefree in an almost child-like manner.
This is probably some long ranting parallel to the old proverb, "Don't forget to stop and smell the roses." And at its heart, for as cliche as it has become, it's a proverb that rings true. Unfortunately for me, in the backyard yesterday all I had to smell were Shih-tzu's instead of roses.
Today's Lesson: never leave yourself open for an 8-pound Shih-tzu to use your crotch as a diving board so she can land on your face.
posted by Phillip at 9:16 AM
