We sent Mom off with a bowl of oatmeal and a prayer for her safe journey. It was a really cold morning. The car thermometer read 41, my bike computer read 48. Our noses ran streams as we cycled to work. My hand ached by the time I got there. Getting the lock on my bike and taking off my helmet, were difficult tasks because of my cold, stiff fingers.
As I was getting into the shower at work, I noticed that water was pooled around the drain in the floor between the stalls. My thought was to keep an eye on it while I showered. As I dried off, the puddle on the floor started bubbling and filthy black sludge was coming out of the drain. Oh, Iris, RUN! I think I may have even said that out loud. I grabbed all of my things and bolted to higher ground. Holding the main bathroom door closed with one foot, I struggled to quickly get my clothes onto my still wet body.
Throughout the day, maintenance and janitorial trailed hoses and mop buckets through the shop. Around 3, the shop filled with the sweet smell of raw sewerage. Apparently the leak had found it's way into the air intake room. By the time I left, all sense of smell had left. I have no idea how bad it really was.
JE met me on the trail heading home. As we peddled our way through a neighborhood, we heard the Hokey-Poky playing from a building. JE slowed down and apologizing went to find the source. "I'm sorry, I've just got to see..." We looked over the fence into the courtyard and discovered it empty. There was a sign for a preschool in the building, but it was dark and abandoned. Looking up at the second floor on front side of the building, we saw a lot of bearded men standing with their backs to the window. It was a huge, brightly lit room with high ceilings. The sign on the outside read, "Chabad of Irvine." Perhaps a bar mitzvah?
We were starving when we got home. We baked a chicken dish and polenta with roasted butternut squash while we swam. But JE made a couple simple corn tortilla and cheddar quesadillas to energize our swim.
Gosh! With as crazy and weird as today was, it is just so nice to have these awesome outlets to de-stress with. It is so good to feel my arms working, pushing the water under me, my legs keeping my southern half bouyant. My breath forced in rhythm with the rotations of my whole body's movement. Rhythm, breath, heartbeat, movement; that is all there is and need to ever be.
The stars are out tonight, shining bright and cold.
By the way, my knee is still healing, though there is still a hole in it. It is still fairly tender. I just put an advanced healing bandage on it. We shall see what happens.
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