Just a moment

Saturday is both the longest and busiest day of my work week, as well as the day when my skills of tact and courtesy are tested the most. I always leave tired. I've been operating in high efficiency mode since yesterday morning and had completed four errands before getting to work this morning by 9:30. When I left this evening, I still had groceries on the agenda. Traffic was heavy enough that it was difficult to get into the exit lane to my little town. I realized that if I headed the other way, to the next town over, I could go to the liquor store! That may not sound like much, but my town is dry. You can only buy beer here, and I drank enough beer in college to last my lifetime. I also decided that I was due a little treat. The store was packed though, and getting one bottle of inexpensive Riesling took nearly half an hour.

That meant the local grocery store had already closed, so my shopping list took me to the dreaded Big Box store. (A word of warning, the candy aisle in Wal-Mart the night before Easter is a scary, scary place.) When that little nightmare finally ended, I realized I'd forgotten the pet food, so I had to make another stop at the Little Box store. By then my feet had transitioned from tired and achy to painful and throbbing, I still had a 20 minute drive to get home, and the first three radio stations I tried were all playing Lynyrd Skynyrd. (I think there's a small religious cult centered around their music here.) My mood was rapidly dropping. When I pulled into my driveway, all I could think about was how many trips it would take to get everything from the car to the house. I unlocked the car door and stepped out, wincing slightly in my uncomfortble pumps.

I had barely stood up when it hit me -- the most incredible smell. Grass, flowers, pollen, good, clean dirt, and something like incense. I swear, you could almost smell the moonlight. I tilted my head back like a dog and just inhaled for one moment of true beauty. It didn't transform my long day, my fatigue, the knowledge that I have a lot of writing to catch up on in the PAD challenge or my miserable feet. It was however an exceptional moment, and not every day has one of those. I guess that's more than good enough.