Playing hookie

The morning activities had been productive, but I was tiring. I could feel the demands of the trip catching up, the expense of so much talking, so much concentration. There were still two presentations to be attended in the afternoon, but after the lunch, during which a speaker took our attention, I felt suddenly exhausted. I knew I could not endure. It was just a few hours, and I owe it to my institution to wring every ounce of benefit from this conference since they are paying the bill. But I also know my limitations, and when my body says stop, I listen. I called it a day and went to my room, sad that I would miss a part, but relieved that it wasn't something I had felt drawn to.

Good thing I did. Shortly after entering the little suite I got a call from one son, then another, then my daughter-in-law, then a friend. I lay on my bed listening to a litany of woes and troubles, helpless to do anything practical about any of it, able to pray, to hear their hearts. How strange that it was easier to listen from Arizona than it would be from home. There were no distractions in Arizona, nothing to make me measure my time in terms of stuff I had to get done (other than homework which could wait).

And since I had been walking about under heavenly blue skies, my eyes filled with the beauty of cactus in full bloom (which I am told is rare - and that I exchanged one set of pollen for another!), my senses inundated with the sweet rose honeysuckle perfume of some flowering bush I am not familiar with, my soul lifted by the colors, the sensuousness of this new place, I was in a good position to absorb and not react. To reflect and not scorch.

Perhaps I shall be forgiven for my lapse of commitment to work, since what I ended up doing while playing hookie from libraryland was still good and necessary to life in general. I never did get my paper done. Oh, well. There is always tomorrow.