Launch

Today is the first day of March.  In so many ways, today is a first day. As I leave behind the cloud of visible debris, streams of adrenaline guide me into a being stretched, connected, new.

The new electric car I bought last night, on a weeknight, sits quietly in the garage.  The owner’s manual won’t be touched for a few days, daunting in its thick black bulk on the kitchen table. I didn’t drive it until my tai chi class this evening.  This morning, I was still grounded in the familiarity of the old car’s dysfunctional locks, accumulated dirt, favorite stations. When I took off for class tonight, the acrid new car smell filled my breath.  At some point, I stopped noticing. Rolling slowly in ECO mode, I turned on the heated seats and heated steering wheel because using the heater significantly reduces the battery charge for driving.  Warm hands and cold air, the opposite of before. I found my favorite stations and saved them, paired the bluetooth, and turned off ECO mode to fly onto the highway.

I took my dog Joey to meet a potential dog sitter after work. I recently adopted him from a friend. He’s almost 10 but full of energy.  I never took my old dog to a dog sitter unless I was going out of town, and suffered many years of guilt and pent-up repressed energy from the dog.  Joey is bonding well and adjusting to our home but has started to destroy things when we leave home in the evening to go to the gym or events.  I wasn’t sure how he’d do with a sitter because he can be aggressive with big dogs.  He passed the test with all of the little dogs the sitter had so we’ll try a full day tomorrow! From there, I took him to the dog park where he attacked a black lab puppy within the first minute.  Once I had him out of there, I remembered to breathe and we walked in circles along the compact maze of wooded paths nearby until the brightness of the sunset gleamed above the horizon and we headed home.

I also began a personal journey today with a home project that is borne on the backs of my mother, grandmothers and great grandmothers. One part of my being has been nurturing that beat all day, as a drummer follows the opening of her heart and makes it manifest in the touch of ripples from the air. The contact with my senses has been slightly more electric, and yet totally ordinary.  Like it’s been there all along and I’m just now seeing it.

Launching this blog is motivated by the Slice of Life Story Challenge.  The writing stream that runs in my being is singing with the overdue attention.