It’s noon.
I have done 2.5 hours of deep, productive work.
I have run 5 miles.
I have showered, and had lunch.
I have spent half an hour hugging the boy on the sofa.
I am back at the work table for the second session.
It’s just noon.
This is turning out to be a good day. Yesterday was a good day too. Perhaps the March sadness really is behind me :)
Happy … I got a new phone – a second hand Pixel 2 XL. It’s a big, long overdue update from my aged Nexus 5. The photo above was the first one I took with the phone.
Sad … Boy had to go under anaesthesia today to get some x-rays done. He’s still groggy from the drugs.
Happy … nothing too wrong with his legs, and he’s got the go ahead to continue running with me and his friends. Also, he’s awake.
Me: Cutie pie! Cutie pie! Cutie pie!
Chewie: Why do you keep calling me Pai? I’m not a Malayali.
Me: I mean bhai, spoken like a Punjabi. Not Pai, like a Mallu.
Chewie: Oh.. well, then it’s fine. We are bros, alright.
Super productive morning! Dada is a happy boy :)
Now to head downstairs to stretch with the little black boy, then head out for the run.
Happy, happy :D
I wake up early, make a coffee, and start working straight away. So, by 9 or 10 AM, I’ve got in 2-3 hours of work, and need a break. The dog and I go for a walk.
We return, we have breakfast, and I head up to work again. He sleeps.
After another couple of hours of focussed work, I’m in need of a break again by noon/1PM. So, unless R has already claimed it, the dog and I go for another walk.
We return, have lunch, and watch TV for a bit. Then I return to work upstairs, and he goes back to doing what he does best – sleep.
By around 6 or 7 in the evening, my head is screaming for a break again. Literally screaming – tinnitus has been getting quite bad lately. So we do whatever helps. A.k.a. the dog and I go for a walk, again.
I have always loved walking. I went for lone walks after fights with parents as a teenager. I enjoyed going for lone walks in Delhi in my early 20s – it helped living so close to Siri fort forest. I loved walking around the campus in Calcutta, and at the sea front in Bombay.
I occasionally enjoy company on my walks. I go for a daily walk with Dad when I’m in Karnal. I also enjoyed walking around with a few friends in Bombay and Calcutta. Once in a while I even enjoy having R come along for a walk.
More often, I prefer to be alone. Walks are my time to let the mind wander, or focus, or rest. Let the mind do what it wants while the legs, the lungs, and the heart get some loosening. After all most of the non-walking time is just the opposite – mind at work, everything else resting. Having company on a walk means the mind has to engage – converse, debate, listen (to remember). Not rest. Not recover.
Walking with Chewie isn’t the same. He doesn’t tax my mind too much, yet keeps my heart entertained. He loves all the tracks – muddy, sandy, gravely, boggy – that I keep exploring. He loves hills as much as I do. He enjoys exploring smells in the woods. He loves rivers and the sea. He enjoys being out and about, likely more than even me.
So, when I hit a mental road block with work, I look at him, and he’s up for it. We go for a walk.
When I’m anxious or tense, he takes me for a walk.
When I need to clear my head, or escape tension in the house, he indulges me with another walk.
I’m grateful to have him, always, on the walk.
Sometimes when I’m deep in work, when it’s -4°C and horizontal rain outside, when my body is still aching from the previous run/ride/swim/yoga, he comes and nudges my arm away from the keyboard with his nose. He wants to go for a walk.
I coddle him, delay him, curse him, plead with him. Then he wins. We go for a walk.
This was probably our second meeting with him. He must’ve been about 4 weeks old, and barely bigger than my spread out hand.
R got a new phone, a Pixel 2. It’s a got a good camera, supercharged by Google’s AI chops.
I’ve been busy taking my favourite subject’s photos ☺
… from the surgery.
Surgery went normally. He’s still under the effect of general anaesthetic, so feeling a bit groggy, and a bit pukey. We had to fast him for 12 hours before the surgery, and they gave him only a small meal afterwards. He’s starving. The GA effect means he’s unable to get up and force us to feed him. Instead, he’s just lying on the sofa softly crying… for food, for attention, for relief from the groggy feeling, and for his play time. But mainly for food.
Today has definitely not been a happy day. Not for him, and doubly not for me.
The only silver lining is that he’s back home, safe and sans-growth.
Lazy morning in bed reading.
Cool shower, warm shave.
A spicy naked burrito for lunch, drowned with a free Coke zero.
A pint by the river to soak the sun, reading a saucy, spunky book in public 😉
Followed it up with an ice cream from the van, enjoyed while walking by the river – through waggy dogs, playful kids, picnicking families, and a few sunning beauties.
Finally, had a lovely cortado before the ride home, and picked up a biscotti for later.
Now, back with the boy, with cuddles, and whining, belly rubs and bum scratches.
The best bit: no vomit anywhere == the grub stayed in his tummy 🙂
Oh, and back watching the French Open. (Djoko just won his match)
