Yesterday afternoon, I had the house to myself for a few hours. My idea of heaven is just that, a house to myself, but recently that has rarely been my reality. I decided not to work on my mission statement or my resume (some young 20-somethings are helping me with "rebranding", which kind of says it all doesn't it, but I'm grateful for their help). I decided not to go into a panic about anything. Instead, I just basked happily in the freedom and the solitude. I finished my romance novel. I watched some junk TV. And I sat for at least an hour just watching people with umbrellas walk by on a very rainy sidewalk. As dinnertime approached, I made an old 60's standby, chicken baked with cream of mushroom soup. (Yes, kids, back in pre-history, the only time we ever had "Indian" food was when my mom mixed a half-teaspoon of curry in with that mushroom soup.)
Fortunately, what with all the backing and forthing to the kitchen, I managed to catch PBS NewsHour's "Brief but Spectacular" segment, featuring a photographer named Photon. He told stories about some of his photo sessions with famous men, from Bill Clinton to our current president (before he became president). Evidently in the latter instance, in order to break the ice, Photon had said words to this effect: "Gosh, Mr. T, it seems like there is always kind of a frenzy of activity around here. How do you keep calm in the midst of the storm?" To which D.T. replied, "I am the storm."
A shiver went down my spine. The truth of it was too stunning.
To recover my equilibrium, I watched an episode of Time Team. Nothing like watching eccentric British archaeologists dig through the layers of long-gone civilizations to bring one's spirits back to normal.
A little before 9, I got ready to watch Rachel Maddow. She is just so brilliant, and I honor her. As Chris Hayes was handing the mike over to her (as it were) he looked unusually pale and "deer-in-the-headlights." And Rachel was rather off as well. About ten minutes in, she announced that there was some breaking news, the network did its little graphic flourish, and Brian Williams came on to announce that U.S. missiles were attacking Syria. I turned off the TV.
...the storm.
