Snow! O, wait. . .

I glanced out the window of the front hall and thought for a moment it was snowing. The air was filled with white flakes floating about, falling downward, covering the ground. But it wasn't snow. It was some sort of pollen. I thought it might be dandelion fuzz, and it looked similar, but wasn't quite the same.

The white stuff floated about all day, not making life difficult, but reminding you of movies where volcanic ash sifts to the ground after some mountain blows its top. This was a day of comings and goings, a day when I needed to make life easy. I had to open the library early, and I made myself a cup of warm green tea and carted it about with me as I turned on lights, checked shelves, unlocked doors, booted pcs, moved signage. The warm liquid brought me comfort, slowed me down, kept me from rushing. Float along, like the white stuff outside. Take things easy. Don't miss life while you are doing pointless activities.

I went home for lunch, made something real instead of packing sterile stuff. I sat in my comfy easy chair, put my feet up, and read something just for fun, something interesting. I ate slowly, floating though lunch hour, not constantly thinking about getting back to work to attack the stacks of stuff waiting on my desk to be addressed. I'll get to those things. Right now, I am relaxing.

I take time to write a few letters to encourage the people who called me in distress while I was in Arizona. Take time for people. Connect to the important things. I mailed them on my way back to work, standing in line at the post office without fussing about how slow the person ahead of me was, chatting amiably with the clerk.

After work, I collected Drew and the laundry and headed for the laundromat. He was in fuss mode, as I often am myself, anxious to get stuff done, to run errands, to be DOING stuff. We went to Wegmans and picked up a small sub to split as we were doing laundry. Rather than gobble it down quickly while sitting in the laundromat watching the clothes swirl around in the machine, we headed back to the car, put on some quiet music, ate slowly while we watched the white pollen stuff swirl about.

After flipping the laundry to the dryer, we took a walk together up the strip mall, gazing in store windows, chatting, connecting. I walked very slowly, and he did not object. We discovered a used game store and Drew longingly drooled over games, talked with the store owner, asked questions. Then we wandered back to the laundromat. I could feel my legs turning to rubber. Time to call it a day. Pack up and go home. I am desperate to lie down now.

The white stuff is still falling, sifting down. I take a deep breath, and we stop for soft ice cream. Chocolate. Its not hot out, but not cold either. My stomach needs something soft and gentle to settle it down. We sit in the car and watch the people who have gathered for ice cream, watch the white stuff fall.

Then we drive home under a clear sky. It has been a day of quietness and recovery. A day to remember what is important. To slow down and live instead of rushing like a fool pell mell into the next day. Sometimes you do need to just stop for a few minutes and breathe.