Unplugged

You know how some people make cryptic little comments on social media sites that beg for more details that are never disclosed? Annoying to read for certain, but I've been guilty of doing this myself.  I'm about to do it again, but not because I'm trying to be oblique, but because I want to emphasize that these past two weeks were weeks for the record books. We had impressive, wide-ranging events that I will talk a bit about in my next post and these certainly required all hands on deck. Like most operations, there is a bit of "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" thought regarding what goes on behind the scenes and there certainly should be. So, again, while the past couple of weeks were quite successful, the "behind-the-curtain" action was fairly over-the-top as well.

That said, these long days came to a brilliant finish last night when I walked into my home to discover a beautiful, decluttered dining room table actually set for dining...what a concept! A vase of bright daffodils from the backyard were the perfect centerpiece to the sunlit table and the Spring breezes wafting from the open doors and windows brought a comforting sigh from me before I could even set my briefcase down. The aromas from the kitchen and the grill on the deck were enticing, but I was instructed to sit down at the table where a chilled glass of Tank 7 was waiting for me. A Keb' Mo' song from the Sirius blues station was floating in from the next room and I could literally feel my blood pressure easing. Dinner appeared before me; a plate of tortilla-encrusted salmon, zesty pasta salad and marinated, grilled vegetables. Dinner was delicious and soon, I realized we had embarked on a completely unplugged evening. No phones, TV, tablets, nothing. It was rare and it was brilliant. The subject of work touched on work briefly but soon we found ourselves in long conversations about music and memories and life.

It was one of the best nights in recent memory.

We're going to try to plan these unplugged evenings more often and frankly, its sad that they need to be "planned" at all. That is our life in the big city, as it were. The rediscovery of the joys of unplugged were the absolute best way to close out a couple weeks of madness.