Alone

So prescient that the theme of today's This American Life broadcast was "Home Alone."

After a week of sociable evenings, I am proud to report that today the only people I spoke with were:

a) The woman who made my iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts on West Broadway at 2 p.m.

b) The woman at the liquor store who rang up my bottle of wine at 10 p.m.

A total of 18 words have left my mouth. (Except for singing along to Sufjan Stevens when "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" came on the iPod rotation.)

This day wasn't meant to be as such....I had an alarm set to attend yoga at the gym, to follow it with a 6-mile run, to follow it with a trip to the Institute of Contemporary Art (for the first time!) and finally hit up a play in Central Square in the evening.

Instead I slept through the alarm.....then turned up the radio for the Saturday WBUR news shows and....turned over and snoozed with the cats until after 1 p.m. Outside it was gusty, muggy, spitting rain. My apartment has had that look of needing a deep cleaning for, oh, several months. The kind where drawers get emptied and sorted, bills from 2003 get purged, and the Christmas cards from 2007 are taken down off the mantle.

So I stayed in and did so, and just finished.

Sometimes this kind of day makes me feel kind of lame. Let's be honest. If I had someone I wanted to be with who wanted to be with me.....I'd want them to be with me in my bed....rather than me alone, under it, scrubbing dried cat litter from the hardwood.

But when I do do the day by myself, I'm reminded of the luxury of freedom to make that choice.

And for at least today, am comfortable with it. Except that I skipped a training run. Which I'm going to complete first thing tomorrow morning.