quiet waking

today was made a quiet day by me...careful, thoughtful, calm...it began nicely waking up a little more rested than yesterday's rude awakening of realizing that sometimes 2 calculating minds in the same 8x12 room can still make mistakes. (smile) anyhow, spring is in the air here. yesterday while walking back from the airport, rolling suitcase in hand, i passed the barren trees and noticed the white magnolia flowers beginning to stretch their petals. this evening i saw yellow daffodils in the neighbors yard that brought a smile to my face. today's warm sun convinced me that a nice walk alone down to the waterfront was exactly what i needed. old town alexandria and i became reacquainted with one another as i stepped into its bookstores and coffee houses...sigh...sometimes even after a relaxing weekend away, it is necessary to rejuvenate and listen to the silence of your own mind and thoughts. some of my time was spent reflecting on the last 5 days and the creation of a list of moments to remember - it may be incomplete still, but that could also because my memory has been failing me lately (more than usual), thus the need to write these thoughts here, in order to remember the reasons my mouth smiled more than usual these past few days ---

this list becomes a story /of a trip to chicago
-four poster beds
-smelling like roses
-orange chairs in iconic buildings
-riding trains 2 stops just to go thru architecture
-being woken by sunlight beaming thru blinds
-sketchy parts of town that make me want to hide the map
-ominous looking trees
-rubber bands stolen from historical buildings
-comments on glasses
-having no good soundtracks (till the last day realizing one could have been had)
-gentle touches to the knee while road-tripping
-ferris wheel coercement
-coffee mugs that remind me of my grandpa
-wine in plastic cups and "the usual suspects"
-touches to the chin by random men celebrating irish holidays
-6B notations on the right hand
-free drinks because "you guys are nice"
-coffee, coffee, coffee
-cemetary searching, both via the internet and automobile
-being corrected for impersonal behavior in name calling
-wandering oak park & discovering FLW without the $3 map
-the "beach" lake walk thru the weeds/trees/along the interlocking pier...listening to the waves with coffee mugs in hand that had the most ingenius non-spill lids ever
-listening to the idea of a "graphic instruction" collection book
-being able to go "home sweet home" and not a hotel room
-drawing on the arm of another & being reminded of my love for the movie "the pillow book"
-drinks spilled on my of course green shirt within minutes at an irish pub on the most irish day of the year
-the moment of vulnerability when from my mouth came the words of agreeing to be asked 5 direct, unambiguous questions...& then not being taken up on the proposal
-50 cent tours of school ampuses & being told payment can be made later
-chocolate chip cookies - but more the sound of rustling ziploc bags while my eyes are resting
-ink pens that run out due to skin usage
-phantom green, matrix-like buildings glowing in the fog and the "attempt" to photograph it
-striped knee highs due to moonlit shadows
-more mirrors, more attunement to reflections
-st. patrick's day stolen signs
-old moving bridges and the sparkle in the eyes of a person that see such moving wonders as wonderous
-m. gondry videos (the making of one's own as well as the viewing of the already made)
-rewards that come in the form of french fries and apple dippers
-looking for "welcom to (fill in the state)" signs along midwest freeways
-my first cracker barrel experience...rocking chairs/triangular games/being reminded of apple farm in slo/missing checkers/salty ham
-me always being 1 peg behind
-the creation of a story that tells of the next 5 days, warm and with water, a roof, a cemetary, more long lazy mornings, complete with burrowing in the back of my neck, a place that is haunted, accessible by train, includes staying in private residences, and crepes one morning of the 5...(story to be continued and finished at a later date yet to be determined...)