Unexpected

I was kicking around the topic of how on Friday night at the gym, when the 6 p.m. yoga teacher didn't show up so the manager came down and offered all the students refunds, I asked if I could stay in the studio and stretch and the manager said sure, so then I stayed for 75 more minutes with the rain coming down outside and ran through a power routine as if I were still in the class, keeping the ujjayi breathing, including the extended triangle and all the warriors and finishing with spinal twists and a shoulder stand and even attempting savasana and feeling relief that I occasionally can still figure out how to deal with a situation about which, in the past, I might have instead bitched and decided my evening was ruined, and don't really thank the yoga itself but instead realize how much I appreciate the unexpected.

Also unexpected:

It's early on a Sunday morning and I'm on my patio with feet up and a glass of Riesling, to come down after cleaning my apartment for the last 5 hours, and 2 patios over some girls and their boyfriends are partying and it is not your normal Southie party, but instead one where they've blasted several repeats of "Landslide," my favorite Stevie Nicks song and almost-favorite karaoke song, and then produced a mandolin and harmonica and jammed for awhile with something that sounded like skill, and now they are playing Balderdash and saying "shoot!" instead of "f#$%!" when they can't think of answers and screaming in laughter as if to rouse the seagulls, and again, I could have been, and have been many times before, that woman who rolled her eyes at others' Saturday nights that are more social than hers but, unexpectedly, instead I find myself glad to live 2 patios down from people enjoying an August evening in a fashion I can appreciate.