random thoughts – Day 1,855 – (Tuesday) – patchwork day

Opening tray.

The day started out with the craziest starting tray in a Words with Friends gam, and the note there were no moves possible. Awesome. Pass.

It was donation pickup day from Big Brothers Big Sisters as part of operation downsize. Under a calm sky, the boxes and bags were placed on the deck by 7:00 a.m. as directed. It wasn't long before the sky opened up and rain poured down upon the four boxes and the bag of clothes. I ran out with a larger plastic bag to try and cover it, but it was already wet. I missed the truck’s arrival, but I hope the boxes didn’t disintegrate when they were loaded.

At some point in the morning, I got to see a woodchuck climb it’s fluffy butt up one side of a chain link fence, pause on the top edge, then climb down the other side. Amusing and very impressive. The fluffiness hides the agility.

At lunchtime there was a presentation at work that included a film screening of the documentary Lost Child: Sayon’s Story, about a child soldier with the Khmer Rouge and his eventual reunion with family members. It’s a beautifully done film dealing with news topics I vaguely recall hearing about when I was a kid. The Sayon in the story is the husband of a colleague, which made it even more impactful and personal.

At first, I was bummed I wasn’t onsite for the screening, panel discussion, and Cambodian food lunch. As I sobbed through most of the movie I was glad to be at home, alone, and not in a room full of colleagues struggling to keep my sh*t together.

Cloudy and sunny.

The afternoon delivered a couple vague and half-baked project requests, followed by a routine task that landed at 4:30 and should have been on my list but had been forgotten completely. Luckily, it was a quick and routine turnaround. For a nanosecond, it felt like the only thing that had gone right all day, but then I realized I put the wrong financial quarter in the headline and had to fix it.

As 5:00 approached, the sky grew so dark lights were needed. Rain roared down. Thunder rolled in. It looked grim outside, and I needed to leave for dance in a few minutes. The rain cleared, but the traffic was heavy and slow. It took extra-long to get to dance, and  I arrived barely on time. By then, the sky was a gray flannel shade but the sun had returned. I couldn't find a rainbow, but I was late-ish and didn't spend a lot of time looking. 

Missing seven of the past eight weeks has really set me back in the Tuesday night dance group. We ran through dances I kind of knew and felt pretty good about back in early February, but now it’s like I have total amnesia. At one point, I just wanted to cry all over again. It got better when we learned a new dance and I wasn’t just flailing about trying to follow something I used to know.

And there we have it. A patchwork quilt of a day. Sunshine, rain, tears, swears. A wood chuck performing athletic feats. Crazy screw ups. Thunder and more rain. Dancing, frustration, and then things were suddenly better. Whew.