Saturday, May 22, 2010

Survived Week One

I survived week one of the "back to work" routine.  This experience thus far has made me view life through an entirely different lens.  The words I'd use to describe the first couple of days would be restless & unsettled, but by today, it all started to feel somewhat familiar & calm. It's also been like getting to test drive a car & kick the tires a bit before you buy it - a guided tour under the hood.    

Humorous details:

1. The daily scene at the park & ride station in the morning & at the numerous bus stops downtown in the evening are eerily reminiscent of assembly lines in a manufacturing environment. People line up in silence in the most orderly fashion waiting for their turn to board the express buses.  The scene is almost jarred out of balance if someone comes running up the street - late - trying to catch a bus that's quickly driving away. 

2. The similarly silent long line of employees waiting in the elevator bays for their turn to ride up to their floor in the elevator. A totally learned behavior, but far from ordinary if you are an outsider looking on!

3. Caribou has seduced me. I've treated myself to a hot Chai Tea every day since I started. Day 1, I called myself being environmentally conscious, buying a reusable cup cozy on sale for $1.25.  What a steal.  The problem is that on the way home on the Metro Transit that evening, I realized I accidentally threw away my new cozy with my empty cup. Brilliant! Oh well. Hopefully the cleaning person was smart & retrieved it for their own use.  I bought another on day 2, but have managed to remember not to throw the new one away!

Simple pleasures:

1. Getting in 8 of 9 holes of golf this week - First the bus was late & then traffic was horrible, so I was late for my tee time. Even had to change in the back of my car! The starter was a dear & drove me up to the 2nd tee, so I wouldn't miss playing another hole.  It was a beautiful evening & it was so relaxing & mind clearing to walk and play those eight holes with some wonderful ladies.

"Giving thanks for the moment is the only way to glimpse eternity."
- Modern meditation from Seville, Spain

2. Realized this evening that our Irises had finally begun to open up & snapped a few photos. Our neighbors with different exposures had Irises which opened up earlier this week:




Should be interesting to see how week two of "back to work" shapes up!

2 comments:

Jen Westpfahl said...

It's hard to resist the lure of Caribou.

Have you played golf for a long time? I've played three rounds of 9. I think I'd like it if I played enough to get good at it.

Monika said...

Jen, I took private lessons for about 3 years as a child, starting at about 8 years old. "Golf is one of the sports of business which you need to have under your belt" is what my Dad always told me.
I put the clubs away for the most part after that to play other sports & then drifted back to the game about 9 years ago. Haven't put the clubs down since. I love golf.