Thursday, July 30, 2009

Unwinding, if possible

Tuesday was an overwhelming, frustrating day at work.

To remedy, that evening I asked a friend to join me for a beer and chat to unwind.

Perhaps it was a poor idea to try and unwind from being overwhelmed with a friend who is himself overwhelmed, because his unwinding (which was quite necessary, don't get me wrong, I understood it) overwhelmed me even more. I left him inexplicably needing to drive ... went north on 93 instead of south .... up to Lawrence, west on 495 to Littleton, and back to Boston via Route 2, some 78 or more miles, with the moonroof and windows open and the BBC World Service as background, eating a King-Size Hershey bar, thinking about nothing but the dark highway, pulling into Southie at 12:55 a.m., finding myself still so wound up that sleep didn't come until after 2:30.

Which in turn made Wednesday an overwhelming, frustrating day at work. Perhaps the crankiest in my history of work. Enough where co-workers backed away at my approach.

Last night my attempt to unwind was no more successful.

Power yoga? No good ... a substitute teacher with no sense of flow and the stretching hurt more than anything else.

An hour on the Steinway at church, improvising with my eyes closed on hymns? Nope.

A nice run? My left ankle is oh so unhappy with me and the 80-percent humidity outdoors is hardly relaxing. Not possible.

And getting to bed before midnight? Ah. You all know me well enough I can't manage that even when totally inspired.

So here we are, Thursday morning, facing an inbox of remnants from yesterday's work crankiness without the fortitude or restfulness to deal. Stomach hurts from frustration and weariness. And in an enormous outpouring of salt .... woke up to discover that in my relative haze last night, I forgot to lock my bike to the street sign out front as usual .... and it is gone.

My rusty, unstealable, brakes-that-suck, free bike from the landlord was stolen.

All I need is for my car to get towed and life will be complete.

But hey ... The CFO. (Reminder: he's become a Friend who is a Boy, rather than boyfriend.) We last met up in early June for burgers and martinis at Lucky's, venting off whatever frustrations we both had at that time, but haven't communicated since.

This morning, an e-mail out of the murky, black sky:

"Been thinking of you lately ...

I was thinking of going over the Boston Harbor Hotel after work and catching some music .. I just checked and tonight's a blues band out back on the water. Any interest in meeting me there? I've not been, but have a sense it's a good crowd and a nice place to meet for a beer. "

Wow. His message produced an unexpected feeling of comfort and familiarity so acute it was like falling back onto a pillow.

Like it might be possible to unwind, tonight?

4 comments:

Mrs. Hansen said...

It sounds like you need a great big bear hug! Perhaps you can catch one tonight. At the least, I hope you find yourself in good ("un-whelming") company, refreshing beverages, and a moment to just let it all go.

Lots of love to you...

Karin said...

@Mrs. H, you're kind. I will enjoy the harbor evening although, again, a cricket-filled backyard in Pipestone with capirinhas and some Hansen cooking wouldn't be too bad either. ;-) Hope you're enjoying.

Anonymous said...

@Karin. One of the pleasures gained from reading your blog is learning about towns in the Mid-west--specifically in ND and MN. Good luck tonight, and do find some sleep. Take in Shakespeare on the Common this weekend: a comedy--"A Comedy of Errors". Should relax you.

Mrs. Hansen said...

You know, the crickets have been keeping to themselves around here lately. Tonight is our last night, tomorrow we pack up and start the drive back to Philly with Dennis and Diane too. Perhaps I'll remember to take pictures of the prairie for you!

So, if you're in Philly when we get back on Saturday, we could at least make you a caipirinha and put you in good company. ;-)