a day off

For most of October I was working long days, twelve of them over ten hours. This isn't me complaining. I've had this job long enough to know that it comes with the territory. However, for the last couple years, living in Ferndale, I made a ritual out of taking time off of work during the month of October to take a long walk to Royal Oak, grab a cup of coffee, and get in some good pondering. Twice last month I tried to arrange such a day, but my work schedule just wouldn't allow it. Finally, that day came for me yesterday.

Monday night was band practice. Our first show to which we'll be inviting our friends and family is this coming Friday. We played an open mic night a couple weeks ago to about a dozen people and have since added a new song and learned a cover of Stereolab's "French Disko". Anxious to be really tight for the show, we've been practicing twice a week.

Tuesday I slept in until around ten and when I finally made it out of the house around two it was to get something for lunch and, on an impulse, a copy of David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Once back home I took a walk over to my local polling place to pick up an "I voted" sticker. Wanting to take full advantage of the gorgeous day and accompanied by my newly burned November mix I decided for a short, impromptu walk. My destination ended up being Hybrid Moments, the record/clothing store that just opened up on Woodward. In hopes of scoring a New Order record, the guy working there turned me onto the band Crystal Stilts who he described as "surf rock with New Order vocals". You can hear a couple of their songs here. They're very good.

Deciding to take the day off had been kind of a spontaneous decision. The editor who I had been working with the past week was also taking the day off, and we were gearing up for a long weekend of working ahead. What it turned into was really a day of rest. There were at least two moments, lying on my couch drinking coffee and watching a movie, and again after voting, where I couldn't help but smile at the sense of peace I felt which seemed to have been evading me for some time. Part of that was not being at work, but it was more about the color of the trees and the crisp November air.