The first day of the month, I awakened in unusually high spirits, my attentions first drawn to pleasant sensations.....winter birds, shaking out their vocal repertoires in the early morning rays....a pale blue velvety sky of scattered clusters of cumulus cloud formations parading their shapes.....evolving with my imagination...Bunnie jumping about with a palmetto bug...the first to be discovered this winter..... seeking refuge from the coming winter. I entered the kitchen, noticing a that a small, forgotten bag of extremo Kona coffee beans had dropped behind the cat food and had been hidden by a box of cereal and was now in prominent view. So Bunnie and I, equipped with bug and bean, joined the accumulation of unwrapped Xmas gifts at the dining room table for our morning chatter. From the kitchen radio, the most beautiful music....even better, since it was heretofore totally unfamiliar......t'was Andre' Mathieu's Piano Concerto 4, performed by Alain Lefevre......I was on a 'high' and thought this day might be inspirational and emotionally elevating, which it proved to be!
The sun rose above the bamboo thicket, flooding the sunroom with a soft light across the amassed plants in the sunroom. A second after receiving a call from a childhood friend, Mike Tanner, whom I'd not heard from since we were ten, my friend Pam Harper called for our usual conversation, and both of us signed off in moods of encouragement and uplifted spirits. Wow! I was in the mood to take on the "outside world", to share my pleasant disposition, to complete xmas shopping, pick up packages at the post office and do grocery shopping; so, dressing in clothes that matched my mood, I began my day........
After dropping a couple of bags of clothes and household articles at a Charity drop, I stopped by Suntrust to cash a check. A cashier named Michael greeted me with a smile as I chatted with an old friend, Jack Titelman, whom I seldom see, and I left the bank, noting the bird songs casting magic from the high branches to the ears of passerbys chatting on their cells and sighed for just a second before returning to the natural high I was enjoying so much.......
Then, off to Home Depot for planting supplies for the plants that I'd moved indoors from their summer in the sun on outside decks, I listened to Yolanda Kondonassis' magical harp performing Debussy's Sacred and Profane Dance music as I finishing some pleasant tasks.
My stomach growled its needs, so I went to Whole Foods for groceries and a late afternoon lunch. As I sat, alone, at a long table to dine on my favorite take-out foods.....lightly grilled red and orange peppers with vidalia onions, asparagus, rosemary-encrusted potatoes, yams with walnuts and curried chicken salad, I watched the passerbys scurrying before the windows. A flare of beautiful light blinded me for a moment as a Titian-like cloud passed across and away into the blue sky; and when my eyes adjusted, I saw a single figure walking in front of the huge plate glass windows.....The most elegantly beautiful Apollonian man with a handsome dog. Although my glance was short and a bit embarrassed, he quickly returned my glance for a fraction of second, making a soulful contact in that brief time.......I finished the last roasted red pepper and gathered the paper and plastic....to depart, when, looking up, I saw a luminous figure approaching from my right, bearing a slice of pizza.....It was Adonis! He asked with his eyes if he might sit across from me......not directly but off to the side a bit. "of course!", I replied with my right eye as my thighs relaxed from their departure position.......We engaged in magical conversation as I pushed the pile of plastic and paper onto a chair to my right.......After a simply beautiful dialogue which ended with, "I'm Michael (Mick) Tanner" and a sensitive handshake, I left for the last not-so-Periclean tasks of the day, noting the name tag of the cashier that had scanned my lunch......"Mike".
The clouds had grown into deeper perspective and the low rays of the Winter afternoon began to transform them, and a rainbow seemed to saturate the velvety sky......
I stopped by the corner Thrift Store to drop off some old togs, chatted for a moment with "Michael", an acquaintance that I often run into on thrifting days and, having a very definite "need" for some toasted almonds from Trader Joe's, stopped by to pick up a pouch of them....I was bemusedly surprised that the cashier was named "Mike".......Biting open the cellophane bag of almonds, I ate a few of them and felt perfectly satisfied!
Then, off to Reis' for bridge with Tommy and Beth.......I had set my watch to an hour before, so was early.....Reis and I played backgammon until the other 2 of our bridge foursome arrived....both in good spirits....My bridge playing was spot on, as though Omar and Charles were advising me.......I won every rubber with all my partners. Beth informed me that she was making me a sweater! I felt so honored and excited!
On the way home, I called yet another "Mike" to ask about his just-completed project for graduate school , while listening to a wondrous Donny McCaslin album, "Lost Words and Recommended Tools" as I parked my vehicle in the garage. Then, returning home, answering calls and after watching a few minutes of the DVR recorded Jimmy Fallon dancing and singing with Justin Timberlake's impromptu performance that added some last minute humor to my day, I fell into slumber.....Bunnie curled up in my armpit.......listening to the little water fountains near my bed.....I fell into slumber within minutes.
After pleasant dreams, I awakened to another day....again...in great spirits.......I spoke with a couple of friends who had called late in the previous evening, and felt renewed confidences in relationships with old friends.......My old friend and one-time lover Bill Mello called and we chatted for an hour and a half.....then, before retiring last night, my Godson Branton and I had a heartfelt and much-needed conversation for a couple of hours..........I slept like a baby afterward....
So, this morning I have awakened in the most optimistic mood, and am writing of these events, hoping to share some joy with these words before launching a new day......Wow! It's amost "1".........and I'm invigorated and inspired by hope and renewed confidence........for a moment, a poem, "Invictus", that I memorized in 9th grade and used to sing with Marjorie Oberne, whom I remember with much heartfelt emotion. "Invictus" .......flashed, in its entirety, from the recesses of Memory......and I feel reconnected to the joys of Life on Earth.......Thank you all.....Thank you all.......and thank the wonder of coincidence for synchronicity.
1 comment:
Reed,
As always lovely to hear from you and oh how your words continuously move me all these years. Your gift of words is much like the peace that paintings bring to me. My best.. love and miss you.. Jerry
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