Tuesday, November 29, 2005

 

"every time it rains...I know it's good to be alive"

I awoke and got ready this morning mentally preparing myself for a gray, monsooney day, full of discomfort walking to and fro work. You know how it is, wind whipping the rain under the umbrella, thereby soaking the legs. Getting the hem of your pants all muddy, and the water gradually seeping up to your calves. Stepping around puddles, until you realize the futility of it all, and just step into the oil-slicked, leafy puddle, thinking that you couldn't possibly get any wetter (but then you do, not realizing how dry you had been a moment earlier).

So when I got outside and it wasn't even sprinkling, just a tad windy, I was pleasantly surprised. I walked my usual route, passing NASA, then the police station, then as I was about to navigate around the dumpster, I stopped in my tracks.

That smell.

That wonderful smell. I don't know if I hadn't noticed it before because I usually try to avoid the whole germ infested area, but I got a whiff of my favorite tree/flower. I don't know what it's called, but it's a tree, and it has tiny white leaves/flowers. There are one or two by Hannan Hall, and walking back at night during the four years, I used to occasionaly catch it. Smells sort of like orange blossoms, only that doesn't make sense, since oranges don't grow in D.C. It's like a piece of heaven, floating along the air.

I feel so blessed to have smelled it this morning, now I know to watch for it on my way to work. It's something that is just so wonderful to me that it instantly lifts my mood, no matter how crappy I feel.

Work was fine, same old, although our new issue came in this afternoon, and the cover is brilliant. It's a picture of the sun setting behind cypress trees, and it's so peaceful. The exec editors might not like it because it has purple and pink in it, but whatever. It's beautiful. Then I went to happy hour with some people, and that was a good ole time as well.

I took the metro back, reading a couple pages of Memoirs of a Geisha. The book is very good, by the way. At first I wasn't too into it...but now it's one of those books that I think about even when I'm not reading it. You know how it is, turning the situations around in my head, picturing the setting, even saying the Japanese words in my head. Okiya.

I started marching up the escalator, doing my little faux sprint to pretend that I get exercise, then I got to the top, and stopped in my tracks. My mouth fell open.

In the middle of the courtyard, there's a big fountain. But it's more like a moat, because there is land in the middle of the fountain. Yesterday, when walking back from work, I had noticed some of those white light-up reindeer decorating the edge of the land. I was pleased.

But someone was very busy today. They put up Christmas trees, strings of lights, more reindeer. It was breath-taking. I couldn't believe that there weren't people sitting around it, staring. A girl in front of me bustled along, whipping out her cell phone to call someone named David.

The raindrops were still sparse, but they were becoming fat and the wind was picking up. Perhaps that would normally have irritated me - but it didn't matter tonight.

Suddenly, my commute doesn't seem so ordinary. I can't wait for a) the weather to clear up, so I can sit out there like a lovesick moron, gazing at it, and b) to drag all of my friends to the courtyard.

Sometimes things are so perfect.

Comments:
I loved that book. It was fun to read.

Ever heard the Nina Simane song " I sing just to know that I'm alive"..try to hear it I dunno if you'll like it , but you may :)
 
Oh yay for Christmas lights! They always make everything look so much prettier and happier! You should take a picture of it so that us non-DC peeps can enjoy it too! :)
 
Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?