IN THE INFINITE BEAUTY WE'RE ALL JOINED IN ONE

6 February 2003

It's amazing how simple little things can make you feel good for the whole day.

I guess I didn't realize how much the cloud of "those birthdays" was weighing on me until I woke up this morning, after they were past and I began the first day of the rest of the year.

When the day started, I realized that I felt so much better than I had in a long time. By the time the sky had started to lighten, I was feeling great. Things were all right with my world again. The birds were singing. Many of the trees on the streets I drive on the way to work have started to show blossoms. The wind which has been blowing for the past two days has swept the air clean of pollution. The sun is shining. The city is sparkling.

It's a wonderful feeling.

The feeling lasted all day. We did a procedure on a patient and I had to clean the instruments, which meant soaking them in bleach first. I had forgotten we were out of bleach, so I walked down to the supermarket to buy more. The wind whipped through my hair and I couldn't stop smiling. There were fluffy clouds hanging low in the sky behind "my tree" (the one I have wanted to photograph in all types of weather--alas, no camera) and it just made me feel good.

Not even the rotten experience at Staples could squelch my good mood. Dr. G finally agreed we needed a new copier (I'm not sure why--the old one is only 25 years old!). He'd gone looking for machines at Office Max (which is in Davis) but had a bad experience with a salesperson and walked out in a huff, saying he would go elsewhere to buy the machine.

So I was dispatched to the neighboring town to Staples to check out their prices and what kind of a deal I could get.

There was a new CD playing in the machine. Judith Durham, an Australian singer Peggy introduced me to, was singing about holding on to the dream. A huge hawk flew over a field where they used to grow sunflowers.

When I got to Staples, I handed some brochures to be folded to their printing department and I met with a sales clerk to decide which copier I would buy. I got Dr. G on the cell phone and after a lot of back and forth, we decided on the Canon copier. The sales clerk carried it to the front desk and told me that I could pay for both the folded brochures and the copier at the same time. I went back to the printing department.

But the brochures (which they'd told me would take 5 minutes to fold) hadn't been started. Then the guy couldn't get the folding machine to work. Then it kept jamming. While he was working on the project, I picked out some sale stuff for me (CD jewel cases, Jewel case inserts, and package tape). The brochures still weren't done and it was getting late, so I finally told him to forget it and I'd take them elsewhere. He decided not to charge me for the few he'd already done.

Just had to buy the copier and be on my way. I went to the front desk. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Thirty minutes later, the two people with the two working clerks were still with the clerks and there were other people waiting. I realized that we had a patient arriving in 30 minutes, so I couldn't stay. I told them they'd just lost a $500 sale and walked out.

Nothing makes me happier, of course, than to have a nice complaint letter to write, so that's what I did when I got back to the office (and that restored my good spirits after the slight dip they'd taken at Staples).

Dr. G was in a jovial mood and was being very efficient, so we really worked well together and at the end of the day, I had to rush off because I was meeting Shelly at the theatre.

We saw yet another production of The Vagina Monologues, which I was reviewing. Not as good as the previous production I'd reviewed, but delightful nonetheless. Funny, thought provoking and...well...titillating.

Now the day has come to the end, I've picked up my e-mail--always the high point of the day, after a long day of work--especially when there is actually mail sent just to me, and not simply ads for penis enlargers, viagra, weight loss patches, and hot horny housewives.