loose ends

Spending a day attending to a fistful of loose ends can feel as stupefying as watching an endless string of sitcoms on TV. Ten hours later I wonder where the day disappeared. True, the fist has become awfully full because of my preoccupation with post-semester coursework and because it always fills up before departures.

Ed and I are scheduled to take off on Monday.


But there were pleasant moments today as well. Not like sitting on a sling chair on a sunny day pleasant moments, but still, good minutes.

Some were spent at the Westside Community Farmers Market. Separately and together, Ed and I almost always run into friends there and that has become part of the charm. I remember when I rented a place over the garage of a Parisian family some two years back. They showed me where to go for the biweekly market and they said – go at around 11. That’s when you meet your friends. You'll see as many people exchanging greetings as shopping. We’re not quite there yet, but I can imagine that this might become habit forming: catching up on events while buying the last of the season's asparagus or tomatoes.










Another pleasant moment came later, as I stopped by the little shop on the corner. In my ten months of moonlighting there, I had become accustomed to listening to stories from the everyday of my coworkers. A month had passed since I left and that's a lot of everyday that needed sifting and sorting.

I was so hungry for news, that I forgot to dabble in all the creams and potions that are in display testers -- something I routinely did in the days when I worked there. Next time.


Finally, I hate to admit to being happy with acquiring something (practicing non-acquisition is, for the most part, quite satisfying... for the most part), but in truth, I am extremely delighted with purchasing a new carryon bag. Ed and I will be away for more than three weeks but I am determined to fit everything I need in a small carryon and with room to spare. But that requires a better case than the one I have put up with for the past decade. My new one is delightfully commodious, yet within the required dimensions that airlines are increasingly asking us to adhere to. Right now I have it opened and laid out before me and I just want to smile and smile at how, well, useful it is.

Few people have gotten so much pleasure out of one simple suitcase.


Outside, the rain is pouring down on Madison. It's a summer storm and I am reminded again that we are speeding through this warm and lovely season. It's time to turn my back on work and give summer my (almost) full attention.