It was my third day in a row off from work. "I know," I want to tell you. "Yes, I did say that not too long ago. Yes, I know! Isn't it fabulous? Again, yes." And I'd smile and you'd say congratulations and we'd both smile.
Then what?
Oh, right. It was another day off - three in a row.
The first day I had acupuncture and it was great. It was so helpful and my practitioner - who is also a naturopathic physician - is excellent and the acupuncture really helped. A lot. I was feeling good - though, admittedly, just a little spacey. The good kind of spacey; in post-acupuncture-Qi-flowing kind of spacey. Did a couple errands. Went home and tried to make a little art (unsuccessful, but I tried). Did some feedback for students and writers online. Later called to make a therapy appointment for Friday; if possible; but I was fine until the regularly scheduled appointment next week.
The next day I got a call from and an appointment with my therapist. Yay! It was good. Then I took a trip to Trader Joe's to get lunch and dinner for the zoo concert: Indigo Girls. That took a long time and I wanted to get up there early to get parking. Which I did. Parked. Decided to become a zoo member: tax deductible, free admission for a year (including early for the concerts, to get in line early for a better seat) free parking. Walked the long way around and stood in line for another hour. Got great and I mean *great* seats, squeezed in with another interpreter, her sister, her friends and acquaintances. And the concert? Awesome - really. I would say that Indigo Girls are high on the list of Great In Person Musicians - and not all musicians are. I had a lot of laughs, good blueberries & peas & cheddar-gruyere & Akmak crackers, shared a bottle of wine. And wonderful music - Amy and Emily were amazing, I loved listening to them, was inspired by them, was soothed by them. The opening band, Mountain Moriah, was really good, too.And Indigo Girls' violinist - wow; she was amazing, when she played it went straight to my cells. The combination of Indigo Girls and their violinist (whose name I don't remember, unfortunately) - magic. (Below is a video from their Lowell MA concert on 6/23/11 of a new song on the updoming new CD.)
Then day three arrived. I thought I might go for a bike ride, but I'd stayed up late writing, editing. And the day was already under way. And I realized that I had this very busy week -- right after I had the thought that "On The Third Day I Wrote." Then the realization hit me that the first thing I needed to do was go to the store to buy some food to chop and prep and cook for the week because, in this very busy week, if I didn't do it on this, the third day, I'd be eating out for most of my meals = expensive and not very healthy most of the time due to scheduling. While at the store I received a page that we were, indeed, meeting up with my partner's son and his fiancee to celebrate his birthday (which is actually on Monday); which was totally great and I was thrilled. So - I'd already dismissed the bike ride; but walking around Costco for 3+ hours would be good exercise, though I could accomplish as much in 30-45 minutes on the bike or an hour of plain walking, probably - but it was movement, right? So I also realized that writing wasn't going to happen, because my first job on My Monday (Sunday) was very early, which meant early to bed, yada yada. No worries.
So - On The Third Day I ... went grocery shopping. Chopped two kinds of cabbages. Boiled eggs. Thawed an Ahi steak. Chopped some cheese. Divided up the blueberried: some for her and some for me so we each get some and don't accuse the other of eating them all (either accusation could be true). Washed and sorted spinach leaves and froze some. Consolidated flax seeds and ground a small container-ful for the week. Cooked the broccolini (one bag; left one bag raw). Stacked the case of soy milk and the half case of chicken stock (easy soup: organic chicken or veggie stock, fresh or fresh-frozen spinach leaves, optional kernel corn or diced peppers or broccoli or other vegetable - add protein of your choice (chicken, tuna, tofu, beans - whatever); heat and enjoy).
I didn't write.
But today between jobs, I did write. I put down a really good start to one of the missing chapters. Then tomorrow when I meet up with a writing friend for a couple of hours, I will transpose the handwritten beginnings into the computer and, perhaps, finish that first draft. And later tonight, after work, I was writing an email about how I couldn't seem to write this other chapter and the beginnings of that just poured out.
So, maybe I did need to gather the vegetables and the stocks and the soy milk and cook up some fuel because I would have spent that time today chasing after food at the store or the healthiest place I could find and get in and out of quickly. Instead of writing.
Today, I wrote.
Even cooking and cutting vegetables can aid a writer. Yes, it can.
And so can time off.
.