I’ve found a new way to spend my lunch break that I enjoy thoroughly.  I eat my lunch while I work, and when I take my break I go downstairs to the lobby with a book, land on a couch, set the timer on my iPhone and read until the alarm goes off.  The entire southeast wall is a window, and my preferred spot is a couch in the brightest corner of it, so I’m usually reading in the sun, or the best available approximation.

Today, sitting in the sun with long johns under my jeans and my thickest sweater, baking comfortably, my mind started to wander from my book to thoughts of summer: green grass, flowers, beaches, cold alcoholic drinks, swimming pools, the sun setting over the ocean, women in bikinis; one woman in particular who I no longer speak to but whose smile seemed a perfect fit for the scene.

I sat up and took a drink of water.  Out the window two middle-aged women in large fur-collared coats huddled away from the wind and the cold with their cigarettes, and snow swirled on the grey cement, and beyond that the leafless trees across the river valley stood waiting for spring.  On top of that, an enormous frozen sky invited me to take flight and migrate someplace warmer.

Sighing, I stretched out again and went back to my book.  As much as it sucks to have the illusion shattered, it was also wonderful to remember what summer can be like, with the world spread out and welcoming, full of beauty, fun and adventure.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 2:50 pm and is filed under General Rambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.