Peaceful Easy Tuesday Blogling
Posted on | February 5, 2008 at 8:37 pm | 4 Comments
Ever have one of those perfect moments, when all seems right with the world? Those seem to be happening less and less to me of late. It always seems like there’s some underlying worry or discontent underlining even my most happiest of times. I think that’s partly because I have a lot of trouble being in the moment and I’m always thinking of what the future holds.
Since I left my car at work last night, I had to take the bus in this morning. I guess I’m glad I did. The morning commute, as I predicted, did look pretty bad. It had snowed all night and was still snowing when I left home. Although it probably was not bad enough for me to have had big problems if I had driven, other than the extended commute time. It’s hard to feel Zen-like on the bus, though maybe I’ll get there eventually. Work was fairly chaotic in the morning and I had trouble getting my mind into the right space.
So for lunch I decided to walk over to Mt Fuji and get some sushi. By that time, the snow had stopped, the sun was out, and the roads were getting clearer. But it was cold, and there was slush around and I couldn’t avoid getting my shoes dirty. Nevertheless, the couple-of-blocks walk to the restaurant wasn’t too bad. I ordered the two roll lunch, which includes miso soup and salad. I forewent the usual gyoza, as I’m trying to cut down. For my rolls, I had Alaska (salmon and avocado) and Spicy Crunch Tuna. I grabbed the latest Westword and started reading. When the food arrived, it was just perfect. I like that Mt Fuji’s rolls are 8 pieces instead of 6, so it was just the right amount of food. Sitting there, reading Westword, munching on wasabi/soy-dipped rolls and occasionally glancing out the window at the sun-dabbled newly-fallen snow, I experienced one of those perfect moments. And it was a moment that lasted the entire meal. There were no other thoughts and worries in my head – just the food, the environment, and the reading material. I wanted that moment to last forever. Even though I’ve learned to become a less solitary person lately, I think the solitude of that moment is part of what made it perfect. Sometimes I just need to be with myself. I need to retreat inside of my head in order to get out of my head.
But eventually I had to pay the bill and get back to work, and the chaotic morning became a chaotic afternoon. Still, I’m glad I had that respite in the middle of the day. It made it easier to deal with what the afternoon wrought. Plus, I saw some ducks frolicking in cold Cherry Creek on the walk back to the office, and that extended my moment a bit.
So what’s your perfect moment, and how often do you experience it?
Pet Peeve of the Day: Sesame seeds on sushi rolls. My dear, late friend Bryce used to order his sushi without sesame seeds. I didn’t think you could actually do that, and I didn’t think they really bothered me anyway. Then one day I decided to order that way, and found that yes, I do prefer them sans seeds. So that’s one more way I try to honor and remember Bryce. If you’re with me at a sushi place and I order without seeds, cut me some slack and don’t look at me funny.
Latre.
Comments
4 Responses to “Peaceful Easy Tuesday Blogling”
February 6th, 2008 @ 12:32 pm
Those moments really are important. I think it’s also helpful to take a longer view: are the problems you’re facing really all that major, relative to problems you’re not having to face, say? There was an article in the local paper interviewing two folks, both of whose family incomes were around $150,000. The article’s gimmick was asking them whether they felt they were “rich,” or “middle class.” In a way, it’s a poor choice: if by “rich” you mean “can buy ten gold-plated jets with pocket change and not feel it,” well obviously these folks aren’t rich.
But they’re not “middle-class” either: the median US family income (as reported in this article) is about $60,000, and these folks are making about 2.5 times that. By any realistic measure, they’re not in the “middle” at all. (I should note that our housing costs are fairly low: average home sale price last year was about $190,000.) Yes, they can’t just buy whatever they want…but neither do they really have to worry much, financially. They’re fortunate, in other words – much more so than most people (at least economically), certainly in the US, and definitely in the world.
So, you know: perspective.
February 6th, 2008 @ 3:17 pm
I think you’re missing Rogj’s deeper point here, 2fs: sushi can make a person forget about their iPod battery woes. It’s probably something to do with the mercury content; many batteries have mercury too, after all.
We should perhaps do a controlled study to see if sushi causes a relaxed attitude towards other mercury-containing items such as CF light bulbs, thermometers, or third-world e-waste dumping grounds.
February 7th, 2008 @ 11:13 am
I don’t understand that recent sushi/mercury flap. Is it only about American sushi? Otherwise you’d think everyone in Japan would be dead ten times over.
February 7th, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
Maybe the Japanese press isn’t so desperate to find stuff to report on that’s neither Iraq nor politics.