Unplugged
I think the problem, wife, is that my brain is currently shut off...
A few days ago I had some really good Mac-Dad stuff. I had stuff about the anticipation of vacation and the yearning for seeing relatives and bonding over a cold one and of course the excitement of being locked in a slow moving minivan in bumper to bumper traffic with flying fur, heavy breathing, psychotic dogs and an overly inquisitive, impatient 9 year old. All good stuff you know, but again that was a few days ago. I threw the brain switch to “OFF” and ever since I can only smell flowers, coffee, breakfast, and a freshly opened, unfiltered, wheat beer. In other words, my brain is currently mush...so - I’ve got nothing.
I see green grass. The kind of grass you can actually walk bare-foot in that is cool and soft under your feet. I am talking about the kind that feels safe and friendly and makes you pause and smile and breathe deeply... the kind that feels like grass is supposed to feel when you walk on it. It’s not that I don’t miss our Florida, fire-ant, razor-blade of death, grass that is the reason we all wear hip huggers and carry an Epi-Pen, it’s just that our grass doesn’t feel quite as heavenly and inviting as this.
What else? Well, it’s July and the temperature here in Naugatuck while I was sipping my beverage and reclining in my lawn chair today was about 86°F with humidity somewhere in the ‘very-bearable’ zone. I think it was only 67°F this morning when our fluffy, lovable canine companion jammed a cold, wet nose in my arm-pit letting me know it was time for his morning walk. Not my favorite way to wake-up I will admit, but it did make me smile when I thought it might have been you. Which reminds me, when was the last time you buried your cold, wet nose in my arm-pit? That was somewhere in the contract when you said, "to have and to hold...yada, yada, yada...cold-nose-armpit...’til death do us part." Remember?
I went on a short drive today to examine some rock outcroppings, lick the dew off some leaves and pick-up some K-cups. Everyone I smiled at and waved towards seemed warm and friendly and glad to be alive. The birds were singing like it was a Disney movie and they were flying in formations shaped like marshmallows and flower petals. The wind was blowing and the stars and stripes were flapping and flying proudly, the air was clean and there wasn’t a cloud anywhere in the sky. Work and stress and worry and concern seem to be 1,000 miles away. I know you are thinking it’s just my outlook on life, it’s my rose-colored glasses and the difference is in me...and... you might be right. But for now, I am going to go all in with this. I am going back to a time before computers and cell phones, I am officially - unplugged.
Razor? Yea, I forgot what that was and shaving is for wimps and people going to work.
Soap? Not yet...I am one with nature and vacation. Maybe...eventually...or maybe not.
Deodorant? I know where they sell some, but it is over-rated and might not be tribal enough or what nature intended.
You know what was the best part so far? I got to look at you today...I mean really look at you and you were more beautiful than I remember. That is why I kissed you twice. It seems we are always so hurried and worried about the next thing that I don’t do it as often as I should. My 9 year old looks bigger than I remember and I can see in a few years how she will be growing into something we are not ready for quite yet. She is amazing you know and I thank you every day for her but not usually in words that can be heard. My dog looks even more handsome to me and his eyes say that he is glad we were the parents that brought him home from that cage. It was nice to see our son and his amazing wife; I can’t stop thinking about how proud I am of him and everything he’s become. I also think about our college senior daughter and the great things she is doing in an internship somewhere in New Mexico. You know, we are going to be fine I think.
No, I haven’t been smoking anything. No, I haven’t been drinking anything ... just yet. It just feels good to unplug and focus on what matters most. It feels like our natural state and I guess it’s really all just a state of mind. We all deserve this. If I can figure out how to be in this state of mind while I am at work and everyday life I am certain I will live longer. I am learning. I am getting there.
