Day of Sun and Zen

Friday, September 22, 2006

Recently life has been rather stressful. With my new gimpness at work due to the tendonitis, I find myself slipping behind, struggling to keep up. I'm also getting myself ready for going back to grad school for next fall, which means locating transcripts, seeing if my old professors remember me, and trying to gather grad application info from an advisor who is never there. Various other little aspects of life are beginning to weigh me down, making me feel that I not only have a monkey on my back, it's a family of howler monkeys playing congo.

I needed a day off. A day of sun and zen. So I went out into downtown Davis on my own.

I can't believe how I forgot how peaceful downtown can be. To begin with, this was one of those days that isn't quite summer, and isn't quite fall. The sun is out with a few clouds in the sky, and a crisp breeze blows through the streets and in between the trees. People greeted each other on the street, held doors for each other, and were genially kind.

I was able to discover a little trattoria right in downtown; they served an excellent lunch which I will cover in a later post. I stopped in the knitting store as I have recently decided to learn to knit. We'll see if I accidentally noose myself or not.

I sat out on the grass and read a book, something I haven't relaxed and done in months! I forgot how wonderful it is to make the soft earth your bed and a cool wind and placid sun your blanket. It's ephemeral letting your imagination be absorbed in written word.

I dropped by my old work and said hello to my old boss over a cup of ice cold, and strikingly sweet chai, which made me miss the musty old books and serving up espressos. Sadly many of the people I worked with are no longer there, yet some are, and those little constants in life give me sound mind. (It's Seattle's Best inside the Davis Borders Books, btw.)

I lounged about the UCD campus and immersed myself in memories of academia, sitting in the English building's plaza, and watching a troupe of shirtless frat boys fix their house. (Nothing wrong with a bit of window shopping, just no trying on or purchasing.) I then went to the Memorial Union and picked up grossly processed, yet yummy ice cream in colors which do not occur in nature.

When I got home, I found the cookbooks I ordered, one on salsas and one on grilled cheese, from Amazon sitting in the mailbox. An extra little bonus that cost me $10 total. Yayness! You can expect posts on those as well. >^.^<

I literally stopped an smelled the roses.

I suggest you try it yourself.

9 comments:

  1. I live in downtown [aggie village] and enjoy walking around a lot. davis commons is really a nice place to spend an afternoon! ;-)

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  2. Sounds like you a had a lovely day. I always need to get out of London to smell the roses. In the centre of town even they smell like smog.

    Good luck with starting grad school- make sure you work harder than I did/am. ;)

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  3. Rosa: Downtown really is peaceful, I forget how much I love it sometimes.

    Ros: Ha, well, if they accept me, and I am applying for Fall 07'.

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  4. Sounds like a nice day. Go on repeating them!

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  5. Garrett, you deserve a day like this. Excellent!

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  6. I love this post. It's nice to be reminded once in a while that the best things in life really are free. You make me want to visit Davis someday, it sounds like a wonderful place. Glad you had such a beautiful day!

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  7. mmm ice cream. i can do indian food, but always mess up chai. why is that, i wonder? i'm on scarf number 3, so if you need help from a fellow newbie feel free to ask away. (actually, the savory cupcake recipe i plan to try at your recommendation is for my first ever geneva 'stitch and bitch' picnic =) wish me luck!

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  8. Sometimes getting out for some fresh air can really put things into perspective, eh?? I loved the picture of the flower. You're right, we all need to take a step outside of our busy and hectic lives to smell the roses.

    Good luck with grad school- I am envious! I'll have an Associate's by mid-January, and it's been a journey getting here (considering I started off at UCSB first in 1997-98! then transferred to the JC division of University of Phoenix online in 2005). It's wonderful you are going for higher education- that is an inspiration!

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  9. I loved this post, Garrett! Smelling the roses is always good for the soul, especially when when you've got a pint of ice cream tucked under your arm...

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett

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