The Culture of Quiet

Long time, no blog.

Well, everyone should take an extended break now and then, right?

How do you like my new, pre-fab template? I'm kind of digging it at the moment. I'm sure it will change at some point in the future, but I was in the mood for it as soon as I saw it.

My husband and I are "traveling" this week, so I thought the background fitting. Actually we're in San Francisco for a conference that he's attending, and I'm enjoying myself just hanging out in the hotel. Not doing anything much. For one thing, I didn't really come here to go sight-seeing. Playing the tourist only goes so far with me. For another thing, it's raining sideways today. Bright sky will, on occasion, peek through the wet, gray mayhem, but generally, it is quite wet and very windy. Our cab driver last night told us that they've been waiting for a good, solid rainfall since the beginning of October, and now that the rainy season is nearly over, they're getting it all at once.

Lucky me.

Well, I'm not really that broken up about it. As I said, I'm not very tourist-y myself, and I love down time. It helps to recharge the battery. If you're reading this, chances are you're an introvert, and you'll understand exactly what I mean. If you happen to be an extrovert, however, don't worry—that's just how we roll, as the saying goes. You extraverts throw yourselves into the path of as many people as you can on a given day and that energizes you. That's okay, too.

Anyway, sipping mint tea at a big bar-table in the hotel lobby while listening to Christmas music being piped in overhead is not entirely unenjoyable. All the normal rushing around to get things checked off of my To-Do list; hopping in and out of the car in the race to thread the ever-shrinking needle of time; housework that needs to be done by someone, anyone, in order to keep the boat above water. All that stuff is absent from this day.

Am I upset that I won't be running up and down hills, along the longest winding road in the world, and between one bit of culture and another? No. I will not. Not as long as there is a place to sit still, enjoying "the culture of quiet."

Well, what do you know?The sun is out. I may yet take a chance that the brief sunshine will last long enough for me to go grab lunch at a lovely little French bistro not far away.

Hey, we all have our temptations.