Tuesday, October 12, 2010

reflection

Is it a useless skill to be able to reinvent your life frequently? If X does not work out, you move to Y. Then Z. Then A, then B and so on.

You could argue that this smells of a restlessness that stands in the way of success. Giving up already? Stay with failure for a while! Savor its bite!

Someone said to me last week: of course you’re selling your condo. You’re so restless!

But here is the good side: I am never surprised when life takes an odd direction. It’s that? Okay: I’ll do this then. Exciting!

(Typically I can fully engage in the novel twist before I even realize that I am in an altogether new place.)

I thought about this today as I biked to work – taking a longer version of the bike path. I had time. The weather was magnificent.


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The colors were those of a warm fall morning.


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The light was gentle and kind.


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I did not think about this on the way home, even though again I took a detour – this time away from the lake, so that I could stock up on lightly salted nuts from Trader Joe’s (no place has lightly salted nuts at their prices). I thought, instead, how lucky I was.

A colleague said to me yesterday that I looked so, well, cheerful. I take no credit for that – I have been cheery since birth. Whoa, she’s so giggly/smiley/cheerful/happy – I’ve heard versions of this all my life.

But, too, cheer is aided by luck and I thought this afternoon how luck had been with me just this morning, when I lectured in a brand new shirt that I discovered, minutes before class time, has the unfortunate inclination of popping open at the bosom with no provocation on my part.

(Yet another advantage that men have over women – if their shirts pop open, no one will laugh.)

My shirt remained closed all day long.


But the ride back was grueling. All those nuts in my backpack. All those blasted low salt nuts.


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(Three of today's photos were snapped straight from the seat of my bike, in motion. Maybe you can tell which ones. Maybe not.)