Making It Up As I Go Along #281

MONDAY...
— Quiet time at AFIS. Trevor, Jonathan, Shawn and I are all that’s there. We order Chinese for supper... I stay an extra hour to bank some time as well.
— Hour long walk at home tonight. Last night I was out for an hour and a half and there was supposed to be a meteor shower... I saw one. Tonight, I saw two. Go figure.

TUESDAY...
— Wake to the phone... telemarketer. I get another one an hour later. The telephone is quickly going the way of e-mail... a tool for advertising. Pretty annoying.
— Work is okay. Just Trevor, Jonathan and me in AFIS. Walk at break with Trevor... but no after work walk tonight... it’s raining by the time we leave the office.
— I watch Bill Maher on the Larry King show. Maher is an interesting guy... maybe the smartest comedian out there... or at least the most politically educated one.

WEDNESDAY...
— Slow work night with Trevor, Jonathan and myself in AFIS again.
— No walk again tonight. This time it’s because I need to go to bed a bit earlier. We’re playing golf in the morning tomorrow and I’ll need to try to get some good sleep before it cause golf to work with little sleep isn’t a good idea.

THURSDAY...
— Busy day. Golf in the morning with Atlas, Trevor, Jonathan and myself. Not a bad round but a bit wet for three holes or so.
— From golf it’s a quick shower and bite before work. Work is therefore fairly tough as we’re all a bit tired.
— Deal with a few e-mails after work... watch Daily Show... and do an hour and twenty minute walk.

FRIDAY...
— Work is fine. Not much out of the regular. I get pretty tired though and have a deep sleep on the sofa for about an hour late in the night.
— No walk tonight... cold and windy. It’s 12 degrees tonight. Good in the Fall but right now, it’s too cold (especially with the wind) to go.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet around the house for much of the day. Melissa and Nick pick me up to go to the annual Pig roast and L’Abbe’s house. Good food there and I talk much of the night with Amy and Kerry. Amy was my first team leader in AFIS... And Kerry is a good Hab fan, as well as her boyfriend. Some time with Casey as well and then it’s home via a ride with Linda. Good night.


Places

It’s one of those days when you just don’t want to do much of anything. It’s sunny out and a fairly nice breeze is cooling the room, but I’m tired and unfocused.

Today I’m left thinking of places. Little corners of the world where I’ve been. Most would be meaningless but knowing that those places are there... it leaves you longing to be able to snap your fingers and go. Rocky places by the sea with winds and waves creating a murmur on the shore and a rustling in the bushes.

Mountain crevasses seen from a distance. They’re filled with trees and leave you wondering what’s going on there within the shadows of vegetation and rock.

City lane ways back home. Small urban caves taking you beyond the typical front facade of homes and into a secret place of nook and cranny architecture and small gardens sprouted out of an unplanned corner. It is these places that make walking in downtown St. John’s much more rewarding than driving.

There is an English town settled in a valley, along a river. A stone bridge has been fitted with small shops. And a corner of shops nearby, where I wandered with family, window shopping while we waited for the bus to take us away. Such an ancient town that Roman Baths remain for tourists to wander through and think of long gone times.

Greek places more ancient than one can imagine. A long walk up a hillside that brings you to the ruin of an athletic track. This track still sits there, hidden from day to day life. I imagine it in scorching sun with birds and insects milling about... quiet except for their flutters and buzzings. Occasionally, people come. Coming with tours that arrive like clockwork. And a select few of the tourists make the march up to the top of the hill. And even fewer of these people stop and appreciate the place as just another unique corner of the world. Too many are too quick to take their pictures and pose for their camcorders.

A little Greek shop in the shadow of the Parthenon. There with dozens of other Greek shops, tucked away beneath such a famous landmark. It brings the normalcy of life together with the myth of the past.

And seaside towns of bleached white. White crested waves slap against white stone walls. People wander the mazes of the town unlike most any other. With each corner comes a new and different view. Red flowers framed by the white... blue trim to accent it... and to be able to look out over a town of such dreams and watch the sun set into the ocean, leaving the world golden and dream like.

Everyday places. All ordinary and all unique. All right there to be experienced, but all currently out of reach.