The Shut Out Weekend
You’ve heard of shut ins – those people who don’t leave the house because they can’t bear the world. Well, this weekend I’v been a shut out as in I’ve not let the world in here. It’s been an amazing respite from the usual go go go. My cold has almost subsided. I’ve kept myself from snacking by reading and reading and reading. I finished one good book and started another. Jim Grimsley’s How I Shed My Skin and Irritable Hearts by Mac McClelland.
I might have spent this reading time on my hammock near the bayou, but it has been raining all weekend, so most of my time has been spent indoors, on my couch, watching the grey skies from my windows.
The only people I’ve spent any time with this weekend was a couple I had dinner with on Friday night. I am getting to know them, they work in an area that I volunteer in. We ate dinner at Elizabeth’s in the Bywater and then ended at Morning Call in City Park for a nightcap of coffee and beignets. Ducks waddled across the patio as a saxophonist played and sang while we gazed at Pop’s Pavilion and got to know each other more. I left with an overwhelming feeling of love having watched these two look at each other across the table. It has been rare these days to see people with a history in love with each other. I regained some lost treasure by being in their company. You can see love in a person’s eyes – there is no mistaking it.
It helped me reframe my mood, which had been soured last week due to a cold, lack of progress in my work, and close encounters of the aggravating kind.
Sometimes you have to accentuate the positive like Dr. John sings about, and eliminate all the negative. Latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In Between.
