Hold Tight To Everyday Life

I’m breaking up with January. It can take my whole CD collection, whatevs.

The month brought flu to our fiery fourth-grader, a pesky sinus infection, Christmas overspend, a fender-bender, impeachment, road warrior mileage, and dry skin. That was all before Coronavirus and Kobe and heartbreak in Calabasas.

Last weekend my partner in crime, the extraordinary KSC, and I had a big polyurethane project on the docket. This would be the second weekend in a row we were working non-stop in our paint shop garage adjacent to the urgent care center (the house).

This was a DIY chore, more grit and cocoa than Chip and Jo Jo. Getting started was the hardest part. Like the impeachment, each of us had opening arguments over the best way to arrange painting flow and multiple levels of drying racks. There were no witnesses called and, unlike what’s happening in D.C., not one cross word was uttered.

Kate’s idea worked well!

We soon found a rhythm, cranked up the tunes and ripped through it. On drying breaks between coats, we found a way to sneak in quick walks to escape the fumes and talk about all the incredibly sexy stuff *irony* going on in our lives. Walks have a way of generating the best talks.

On Sunday, my son shared the Kobe news right before I was getting in the car to head off for a business trip. We have been going through a Coldplay period around here and I listened to the new album, “Everyday Life” on the drive. Music has that magical power — the power to reach down to the good stuff – the best stuff in all of us. I thought about the bounty in my life. I thought about those gone in a blink in California…and there was Chris Martin encouraging us to “Hold Tight to Everyday Life”.

As I started to scan for the positive, it came easily. KSC had secretly filled up my gas tank so I wouldn’t have to make the stop I had foreseen, the inside painting jokes came back to memory, the fourth-grader had been fever free for the first time in a week, the roads were clear, and the car was warm. Everyday life. Hold tight!