The Last Drops of Rain

The soundtrack of the last week or so has been Melissa Etheridge's new album, "4th Street Feeling". It is outstanding, a solid collection, through and through.  Her talent never ceases to amaze me. She writes and sings songs that capture the bittersweet nature of life in a true and honest fashion. I'll probably share the lyrics of some of the songs as I go through the weeks ahead.

The currents of life have been surging around me the last couple of months, with unexpected developments in all aspects of my life. A few years ago and the stress and emotionality of it would have been crushing, but I give a lot of credit to that stress counselor I went to two years ago for reminding me of many of the things I know about managing stress. Layer that on top of the journey I have been on toward a minimal lifestyle and exploring zen and...I still feel the currents, the emotions are as strong as they have ever been, they pull me this way and that, but I do not feel as if they buffet me.

I got an unexpected call tonight that has been, basically, two years in the coming I think. A conversation that has been had a dozen times, with an ending that never was, and tonight, well, tonight might have been the ending. It might have been that last tide that crashes ashore and then ebbs slowly back into the sea. I am sure I am going to write more about it in the coming days, writing that I may or may not share.  But, between there and here I have shed a thousand tears and the tears that remain are like the last drops of rain, that fall, softly to the ground.

A Very Low Key Day

I did my best to simply disconnect today. It was what I needed, just a simple day of wandering and doing nothing and trying not to think to much. I slept late (about 7:00 AM) for me, the sun waking me as it flooded the bedroom.  A shower, a muffin, a cup of coffee and I blinked my way awake.

I met Tony for breakfast over at Goodies II on Bascom.  After breakfast, I drifted over to the car wash and ran the car through. Then, I stopped at Target to pick up some odds and ends. John D. Morgan park was next on my list.

After a nice, long, wandering walk I met Bob for lunch at Kirk's (again, oddly enough, on Bascom).  From there, I wandered over to Best Buy and picked up a copy of "Snow White and the Huntsman" on Blu-Ray. Then, back to Westgate, for a stop at Starbucks and then just pointless wandering, during which I picked up a couple of shirts on sale and Melissa Etheridge's latest album "4th Street Feeling".

Dinner was a stop at Sushi Boat, then home, feet up, watching a classic movie (this has really been the summer of classic movies for me).  "Paths of Glory" with a young Kirk Douglas.  I wrote a few email and then simply settled in for the evening with my feet propped up.  I think, in about fifteen minutes, I am going to slip into the bedroom and read myself to sleep.  Tomorrow should be as low key as well.

Daily Life: Liszt Variations

The phone woke me at 4:00 a.m. this morning. Fortunately I had fallen
crisply and cleanly to sleep last night, so I was relatively bright
eyed this morning. I logged on and worked virtually for a pair of
hours as I had my morning cup of coffee and a hot bowl of oatmeal. I
spilled milk on my shirt, which necessitated a change of clothing and
a second shower.

The crisis of the day was resolved, so I ran through the shower and
then started my morning commute. I was early enough that traffic was
mostly light and the commute was smooth. I was listening to Melissa
Etheridge as I drove through the morning darkness and I thought of the
vast "commonality of the commuter". All of those millions of people
who were doing exactly what I was doing - with minor variations.

For some unfathomable reason it made me think of Liszt's Variations on
a Theme of Bach. If you are unfamiliar with it, Liszt takes the
descending bass lines from the opening of a Bach sonata and expands on
it. It is a beautiful, if tortured, piece of music.

Once in the office I have settled in for the day, which should be
fairly routine. One of our customers is out for a three day meeting.
My boss and a couple of my analysts will be attending and I will be
holding down the fort while they are meeting so my day should pass
briskly.

I've been struggling against a bit of writers block the last week or
so and it is starting to feel like it is going to break free this
week, so I am looking forward to that - I am curious as to what is
going to pop out.

Sent from my iPhone