I slept okay Saturday night. Got to bed around ten and fell right to sleep. I slept about four hours uninterrupted, which has been rare lately and was really nice. I woke up a second time around three, went to the bathroom, and decided I was up for good, rather than trying to squeeze in another half hour before the 3:30 alarm.
I’m growing to enjoy Sunday mornings the day before a holiday. I never used to, when I was teaching. I like them enough that I’m taking Mondays off the next two weeks. Need some me-time, especially since we have no holidays between Labor Day and Veterans Day. That’s far too long a stretch for Hawaii people.
Ali texted me with a prayer request, something I’ve been better about receiving with the expected heart this past year. I’m writing something about it, but I kind of want to wait until after the first week of November to conclude it. It’s Lent-related. We chatted a while and I said I would pray. Not something I say sincerely very often about third-party intercession.
It helped that I knew I’d be in the water, which is where I am most apt to do it.
I got to the parking lot a few minutes before it opened, joining the queue of expectant surfers, paddle-boarders, swimmers, and walkers. The surf forecast called for three- to five-foot waves on the south shore. At five, the lot still wasn’t full, but by the time I walked to Starbucks and back with my second pumpkin spice latte of the season, it was pretty close.
I spent the predawn half hour out at the edge of Kewalo, looking over Ala Moana. It was pretty. Drank coffee, ate a doughnut, and listened to Guns n’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction as morning broke. All days should begin something like this.
Got in the water a little ahead of what has been normal. The water was an incredibly lovely pale, transparent turquoise in the shallows, a color I don’t think I’ve seen there. The beach is reacting well to having far fewer people in the water every day.
I went hard enough that I’m still feeling it in my shoulders nearly forty hours later. It just felt so good, and I think the higher number of surfers in the lot meant there were fewer swimmers, because I didn’t have to deal with very many others. There’s a guy who looks like R’s father who doesn’t swim straight between the buoys — he kind of zig zags a little, and he always gets too close to me, sometimes causing me to have to stop where I am and let him pass.
It takes everything I have not to lose my zen. I gotta find a good Christian equivalent for this sentiment. We Christians are too conflicted about everything to have such a useful phrase.
It is quite possible that these morning swims are the best things in my life lately. Why should it be a struggle to drag myself out of bed two hours before sunrise to have the best thing in my life? If Anna Kendrick were going to be at the Starbucks at that hour, standing in line ahead of me every morning, you know I’d be there without fail. And that’s not even as good for me.
Still it would be good for me, though. So if you’re reading this, Anna, just come on by when the virus gets nicer.
I went to Foodland Farms at Ala Moana for some groceries. Came home with a few small wedges of cheese I’ve never tried or heard of. Also, Foodland has a store-branded balsamic vinegar and olive oil that’s a pretty good price. I picked up some of the vinegar to try with the cheese and my next loaf of bread.
I thought maybe Sunday morning, early enough, would be okay for a visit to the Korean grocery in my hood. It’s been since last winter that I’ve gone. My office is walking distance from a few good Korean markets, so if I need something I’m likelier to get it there during a lunch break.
It wasn’t bad, but I lingered a little too long. Then I walked to the Chinese noodle factory a few doors down and picked up some Hong Kong noodles. I stopped at Rainbows for a boneless chicken, post-swim gluttonfest. It went down quickly and I’m hoping I burned right through it.
The rest of the day was getting ready for the fantasy football draft with my high-school classmates. The draft is Monday afternoon, and I had more fiddling with my spreadsheet to do.
I don’t think I had lunch, but I had a slice of blueberry-peach pie for dinner. Crashed on (not in) my bed as I considered hitting the local supermarket before closing. Woke up too late to get there, but I knew I wasn’t going anyway. Ryan posted a photo he took at Waipio Costco Sunday — the line is serpentine in shape and Mississippian in length. Ugh. No thank you. Even if the crowd at the grocery was proportinately smaller, it would be too stressful.
The only other text was from Crush Girl, who sent me a photo of a snack she tried. We chatted a little about that, and about how her weekend was going.
I kind of thought I’d be watching a lot of Halt and Catch Fire this weekend, but I only got to see two episode. Goals for next week.
Let’s connect if connection you lack. Or lack in sufficient qualities or quantities. Stupid pandemic’s still going, and things don’t feel like they’re getting better soon. Just leave a comment.