everybody plays the fool
March 27, 2007My alarm went off at 6:45am Sunday morning, giving me just enough time to brush my teeth, splash water on my face, throw some clothes on and pull my hair back into a ponytail. I woke Rama up 5, and again 10, minutes later. We had an event to attend.
The good thing about getting up and on the freeway so early on a Sunday is that there’s no traffic. I blasted the iPod, singing along to Beth Orton, and before we knew it we were there. Easy, right? Wrong. I called Sidra to find out where we had to meet. “You’re here already?” she asked. “Yup,” I said, proudly.
It turned out we were early. Two hours early. “Shut up,” I said. “Really?”
My heart sank. I felt like a fool for getting the time so clearly wrong. I felt guilty that I dragged us out of bed so early on a Sunday morning for no good reason. Mostly, though, I felt lost because here we were, in a town I only knew for its outlet shopping and airport, at 8 in the morning, with time to kill and no clue how to kill it.
After driving around for several minutes, we found an iHop where we decided to camp out, because, well, why not? I figured I could use a cup of coffee and I wasn’t about to say “no” to pancakes and bacon either. As we settled into the booth toward the back of the restaurant, a song came on the radio. “Do you hear that?” Rama asked.
I shook my head.
“Listen,” he told me.
“Everybody plays the fool…” sang Aaron Neville. What could we do but laugh?
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| As you can see, one minute is just enough time to make drawings that sometimes sort of look like the subject. Imagine what I could do with two minutes… |
I'm Christine, and this is a slice of my life—a sweet, rich, wildly indulgent slice that would taste really good with a scoop of Breyers vanilla bean ice cream. Read more >>
I run a darling, friendly, little graphic design studio.
I look on the bright side.
I take photos. Lots of photos.
I wish on stars and on websites.
I built my first web site 7 years ago and got 15 seconds of fame. (It changed my life.)
I launched, then relaunched, an online magazine.
I admitted to several embarrassing crushes.
I consumed more bacon than any human should and lived to tell the tales.
I’m glad to hear that your unexpected early morning worked out better than sleeping in would have. I am amazed by the one minute portraits… I can finish drawing someone in less than a minute, but that’s only because they’re made of sticks. ;)
Beautiful, as always.
What a nice post! I’m glad you were able to turn that into a fun morning. Waking up extra early and everything…you’re a sunshine trooper.
what a wonderful way to “look on the bright side” and put a positive spin on such an unexpected situation. very well done !!
you were close to timothy b’s house!! he would have made your breakfast. heh. xox
we had such a nice day that day, huh?
p.s., let’s have another good one today!
That is a great story and I am a firm believer in magic moments happening when we least expect it – particularly when we’ve planned so carefully for something else. Sometimes whatever we’ve envisioned for ourselves (or our Sunday morning) needs to be brushed aside for something better. One of my favorite jokes is, “Do you want to know how to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans.” :)