Daydream Believer

I'm getting so good at one-handed typing, I oughta time myself and see if I'm over 40 wpm.

One of the best snowdays I ever experienced was when I was in my mid-20's, living in a house with four "adults", two children, three cats and a dog. Located directly across from one of Rockhurst College's mens dorms, it was damn near close to perfect. It was one of those almost common ice storms that wasn't. Dumped something like 11 or 12 inches of heavy, wet snow overnight. We couldn't open the screen door to the front porch to get out and we couldn't get out the garage to shovel it cuz we didn't think of that. I doubt we even owned a shovel. Everything shut down. Which, in a city, is pretty rare. We all stayed in our jammies, poured huge glasses of our favorite sodas - we might not have had milk and bread but we certainly had soda - opened up the Cheetos and had us one marathon game of Risk. Yes, you can hold on from Siam for many rounds and still become a decent force later.

I thought about that today as Walker and I stood at the kitchen window, eating oreos and watching it - still - snow. I miss having a slider onto a back deck. There are some days that are perfect for standing at the slider, staring out into the yard, watching the world. The best days are rainy, summer days. There's more activity going on than you realize. When we slow down to watch the world outside our window, it should remind us that we inhabit a planet that is greater than us, yet is a sum of all our parts. That the robin and the worm could care less how much we earn, who's on the phone, fair labor practices or the price of heating oil. The robin wishes to eat the worm. The worm wishes not to be eaten.

The day is happening outside. I've gone into the day: dragging the trash can through a yard full of snow to reach the one cleared spot on the curb, pulling a sled through the parking lot next door, shovelling the sidewalk three times and then saying "F*** it," whenever I look at the driveway. I'm lucky if I get my car cleaned off each day. Inside, however, it's a different day. One that's a tad bit warmer and cozier than it would have been had the world not been happening outside.

Not that this missive has any clearly defined point. Just that it's a good day to daydream, I guess.