Every Rock and Hole

Got home last night after twelve or more hours of driving.  I don’t see how truckers can do it.  Are they obliged to stop?  They must be.  Just looked it up.  Those gents, and I suppose more than a few gals, are allowed to drive for up to fourteen hours straight, after which they are supposed to take a minimum ten-hour rest.  I was fasting so I knew I wasn’t going to get sleepy, but it was a compromised sort of cognizance, certainly after the night fell and I swore off any more double espresso fuel. 

The moment I got home I had a twenty texts on Whatasap and Wechat suddenly populate my phone, once it was reconnected to WiFi.  One of them said, “John, are you joining?”  Another wondering if the call was cancelled.  I have more than one calendar to monitor and this was something I’d overlooked.  I rescheduled the call with apologies a-plenty and got myself for the subsequent call that would start in twenty minutes. 

 

I imagined spending the day chopping up vegetables and discerning what ingredients missing.  I notified one client and then another that I wouldn’t be attending the calls over the holiday.  There are only a few folks I deal with that are actually from the United States.  But the folks in Israel, and the folks in China and down in Sydney all seemed to appreciate that this was important.  Here in the States though, I had one and then another and yes, then another last call to get through, beating back obligation, creating a small clearing where the weeds of must-dos lurk. 

And there was more.  Always.  But I looked it all over and determined that there was nothing there couldn’t wait till the weekend, till next week.  I fixed a gin and tonic to change the gears.  No more work.  The tonic was flat.   No matter.  There was still time for a bike ride.  Didn’t get any exercise yesterday, beyond filling the car with gas and I pedaled as hard as I could down towards Gardiner as the sun was just about disappeared.  I wondered about biking in the dark on the way home, but I reckoned I knew just about every rock and hole on this path.

 

Later at home we made a fire and played some chess and it felt like the holiday had finally, really arrived. 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, 11/25/20