Books, Bubbles and Bob Marley

You learn something about yourself when you are walking in between the bookshelves of the library and you start tearing up. When you think "I've lived a good life" simply because you've read a lot of great books. Passing Keats and Whitman and Shakespeare the mind thinks back to the lovely words they gave you. You pull Whitman off the shelf and read "Drum Taps." You stand there reading like you were reading the back of a cereal box at the grocery store when what you want to do is lay down in the middle of the aisle, back on the floor, face to the ceiling and read aloud Whitman's melancholy lamentations. Then you remember you are in the middle of stats class so you close the book, put it back on the shelf and cast one last longing glance back to where Dickens waits for you. *Sigh*

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Swimming is lovely. The warm water at the YMCA is a like a gentle, rocking hug. After swimming there is nothing better than getting into the whirlpool. The one here in town is nice because the water is VERY bubbly. I climbed into the whirlpool after a recent swim and watched the bubbles collect on the side. There was just one other person sharing the pool with me. I patiently waited for her to leave. When she began to make her towards the steps I thought "A few more steps and the bubbles are mine!" I imagined myself grabbing the bubbles , jumping into the middle of them, maybe I could have made a bubble beard. Alas, just when I was about to find myself in bubble ecstasy, some old man made his way into the pool. Sharing a whirl pool with an old man fills my creeper quota for a while so, I stepped out of the whirl pool with my best Charlie Brown walk. Head down,towel dragging behind me and sigh full of "I can't stand it" as I made my way back to the locker room.*sigh*

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The sun in my face and my little brother's Bob Marley CD were just begging to be enjoyed as I climbed in my car. I had a meeting right across the street but I might have been parked illegally. It was time to find a more suitable space. I popped in Bob and found "One Love." That Bob, he speaks to me. I followed "One Love" up with "Three Little Birds" and by the time the song was half way over, all was right with the world. I wanted to stay with Bob,driving through the country, warm sun on my face and a cold breeze making tangles in my hair. I pulled the car into a real space across the street, locked the car and walked into the meeting. *sigh* Later, when I got back into the car, Bob was there. The sun had gone down and the air was frigid. It just wasn't the same. *double sigh*

I'm trying to enjoy the simple pleasures in life but life keeps crowding them out dang it! Life in a small town (part time anyway) wouldn't be so bad if the small joys weren't consistantly crushed by the large responsibilities. If only I could just read the book when I wanted, sing along when it felt right or play in the bubbles in peace. If only life could be as simple as I want to make it. I would have all the books, bubbles and Bob Marley I could handle.

Life in a small town...... stealing my soul one less bubble at a time.