Today I did something unusual for me: I left work early (well, a little early–3 p.m.) I called my sister as I was commuting home to see if she wanted to play hooky too and go get a margarita or a lemonade and sit outside. It’s the first really warm (almost hot) day in several weeks. I cajoled and pressed and also suggested that I would throw a few burgers on the grill and make a salad for her and her family (god knows they feed me often enough.) So when I got near home I headed straight to the store to buy stuff for our impromptu cookout. When Ruth came we had to go back to the store–I had forgotten the charcoal: a key requirement when one is going to grill.
It was a good time. I started the grill and made the turkey burger patties while Ruth prepared baked beans. We talked a bit as I grilled the fancy cuisine of turkey burgers, hotdogs, and brats. It was a beautiful day, not too humid according to Ruth. I lived in the Bay area where humidity was a rarity. I must confess I am not looking forward to that meteorological phenomenon. I lived seven years out of a humid, mosquito-ridden climate and am slowly coming to grips with the fact that, along with cold, snowy winters I will now re-encounter hot, humid summers. Alas, it is what it is.
Ruth’s husband and children arrived a bit after 7:00. We had a lovely dinner punctuated with humorous stories from the children with liberal helpings of parental interrogation. I ate relatively quietly, enjoying, as usual, the animated discussion among the family unit. I am so pleased to have been able to host them; after all, I am a regular guest at their family dinner table. It is a reminder to me that I need to begin to open my house and have people over here. What people other than family remains to be seen–I haven’t met many folks outside of family and most of them are work colleagues who live closer to my workplace, which is 26 miles away from my house. Still, I’m going to think about sprucing my house up a little bit and getting things ready to have company every once in a while.
I am grateful this evening for simply having a good day and for the most part a good, if at times long and tiring week. As I write this the hour here on the East Coast is approaching midnight. Outside a heavy rain is falling, the aftermath of a line of thunderstorms that rumbled through over the course of the last couple of hours. I have set my alarm for 7:30, though I might turn it off and sleep a little later. We’ll see. Tonight is one of gratitude for the simple yet important things: family, breaking of bread, opening my home to some of my favorite people on the planet. Ruth and I never did have our margarita, but we can save that for another day. It’s the beauty of living close by. It’s been a good day, and I am truly grateful.
