Meditative Prose
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Photo by zerega
What an interesting weekend! I worked late Friday to prepare for the coming book buyback week, and left work exhausted but excited to be free for a couple days. I walked straight into town and met up with Sarah for dinner, and then we had some cafe time, which has been rare lately. I finished reading Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse, which was just as good and insightful as Demian, but longer and more complex. Will has been encouraging me to read Hermann Hesse for years, and I had read Siddhartha in college and tried once before to read something else without success, but now these books are hitting me just right, and I can see that I have a lot to learn from this German seeker.
We walked quickly back from Muddy Waters (our home cafe), talking and enjoying the sight of the first big snowfall, eight or ten inches piled on the ground. As we turned left onto Caroline St., I had the brief and peculiar sensation of feeling like my heart was glowing or emanating heat, and even in the 20° cold, I felt warm. I can only guess that this was the feeling of being perfectly comfortable, carefree, and in the moment — and I hope I get to experience it more often. A minute later we were home, and I knew it was going to be a good weekend.
Boy, was I wrong! It was fairly horrible. We both slept late on Saturday, which, nice as it is, never bodes well for the possibility of having a busy, productive weekend. Then, after lunch, we decided a nap was in order. When Sarah woke up, she said “I have to throw up” and hustled off to the bathroom. Apparently she picked up a stomach bug from one of the kids at the preschool she works at. (This kid’s mom should have kept him home from school after he threw up at home, but didn’t, and Sarah not only had to clean up after him at school, but then got sick from it.) So Sarah would get up from bed every hour or so to throw up, and I watched sci-fi movies and wished I could do more to help her.
Today, Sarah was still recovering, and not able to stomach solid foods, so we missed Indian brunch for the second week in a row. I spent the first half of the day in bed with a splitting headache and churning stomach, but never did throw up (knock on wood). Eventually my headache subsided, and I was able to get up and have a semi-normal evening.
And that was my weekend. I hope yours was better!
