The Cool Of The Evening

Forgetting Myself

Today I had one of those easy, breezy days. I went through the whole day effortlessly, and everything went well, at work and after. It was one of those days that reminds me how great it is to be running around loose on the planet, doing whatever the hell it is that I do all day. I was in a zone today, and I was not even conscious of what I was doing half the time. As some oh-so-mystical philosopher once said, you have to lose yourself before you can find yourself. Today I lost myself in the cosmic flow; and then at the end, I awoke from my dream, and found myself again.

At work, my inbox magically transformed into my outbox, and when the end of the work day came, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it was quitting time already. After work, on the way home, I ran three minor but nagging errands, and took care of all of them in about fifteen minutes.

When I got home, I grabbed my to-do list, the one on which everyone in the family lists all the stuff I need to do around the house. There were only three outstanding items. I changed the air conditioner filter and poured bleach down the drain, I fixed a flickering light on a ceiling fan, and I reattached the fin on the inside of the dryer drum, the one that keeps the towels and sheets from balling up and not drying. Done. Done. Done.

And there I was, around 6:00 p.m., with the decks completely cleared. I had met all my obligations. I could do what I wanted. My mind was at ease and the feeling started to wash over me, the sensation of extreme self-satisfaction I get at the end of a productive, successful day. I call it the ‘cool of the evening.’ I’d done everything I was supposed to do, well. I’d done everything I could do. My mind was at ease, my conscience was clear. I was almost blissful. I thought, “Gee, this will give me plenty of time to work on a really good post for my blog.”

And then I couldn’t think of anything to write about.

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