A Day In My Life

It’s a beautiful day in my part of the world.  Spring in Kentucky is a battle between a winter that doesn’t want to leave and a spring that is ready to take root.  A few weeks ago we received two inches of snow.  Nights and early morning are still cool but today is gloriously sunny and warm.  I feel a little guilty because I am home and not walking in the park.  I’ve been having such an enjoyable morning at home that I haven’t been able to make myself venture into the world.  My neighborhood is generally quiet and my inner hermit seeks to avoid contact with the busyness and stress of mingling with other people.  Camaldolese hermits each have a small house and garden where they spend their personal time when not gathered with other hermits for prayer.  Unlike the hermits I share a house with a wife.  However, I am fortunate to have a wife who is also an introvert like me.  Most of the day we are each in our own world.  We occasionally meet in the kitchen.  When the day ends we will spend more time together as we watch a movie or some other entertainment.  Getting back to the hermits, I have a small back yard that is surrounded by a six foot tall privacy fence.  Over time I have strived to simplify the yard and move out anything unnecessary in order to give it a Zen garden feel.  On days such as today I often walk in my backyard basking in the warmth of the sun.  In other words, it is very easy for me to stay at home and as much as I love the park I sometimes struggle to make myself leave my home in order to go there. 

Yesterday I did venture from my solitude.  I got up early, had a quick cup of coffee at home, and then met a friend for breakfast.  I don’t see this friend as often as I would like.  She is a “snowbird” which means she spends the winter months in Florida in true retirement bliss.  When it gets too hot in Florida she comes back to Kentucky for the summer months.  I met my friend many years ago when we both began our careers.  She was the friend of another co-worker who happened to be in the same new employee training class as me.  We all meet and interact with many people over the course of our life’s journey.  Certainly for me, and I hope for everyone, there are certain people with whom we feel a deep and sometimes unexplainable connection.  For whatever reason you just click with some people in a way that you don’t with others.

I did have a really nice surprise at the restaurant where I met my friend.  I bumped into the priest that performed my marriage ceremony.  After I left the monastery many years ago I was offered a place to live until I figured out what I was going to do with my life.  I lived with three priests and I worked at a parish.  Ironically, not only did one of these priests perform my wedding, he ended up being a mentor for my son who is also a priest.  When we met he was 35 years old and I was a somewhat lost 22 year old.  He is now 83 years old and I am a youthful 70 year old.

Usually after spending time with anyone, no matter how much I like them, I am ready for a little alone time to recharge my battery.  Yesterday this time was delayed.  As I was driving home from breakfast my telephone rang and it was my oldest son.  He asked me if I could pick up my granddaughter and her friend and take them to his house.  I can never say no.  I picked them up at school and they immediately asked if we could go to McDonald’s.  Of course I said yes.  As soon as we got to McDonald’s Chloe’s friend began screaming.  Apparently there was a spider in the back seat of my car and she has arachnophobia.  We survived the incident and I finally got them home.  Why are seventeen year old girls so loud?  I was in the driver’s seat feeling like a chaffeur as they carried on with all their teenage “Princesses Of Sadness” woes.  Needless to say, I was happy to drive home alone and, yes, I did take a nap when I finally got there!