Days When Everything Goes Right

The little iPod shuffle, first generation, disappeared and has been in hiding for almost a year.  It was good enough, and kept me company while doing dishes or fiddling with art.  It kept me sane on the Amtrak train that had a crazy man repeatedly making fake calls on his phone, yelling at his supposed father about meeting his supposed girlfriend, and who said, after the ride, "Glad I didn't have my phone on."

It was gone.  I collected the iPod artifacts and zipped them into a plastic bag, tossed it in a drawer.  Today, son Brian brought me an iPod nano to replace the missing shuffle. Did the old earphones fit this one as well?  Let's see.  "Uh, Mom? Isn't this your iPod?"  I had encased it into a green plastic case, and immediately went into amnesia that this new green thing was: the iPod, and had shoveled it into the fray along with the cords and connectors.  I was happy at his finding it, but also floored at the loss of recognition.  This is one reason why I have everything in front of me.  This is not mess, everything is simply within sight.  My son enjoyed the aftermath of accolades and the promotion he won for being such a smart guy.  

While the iPod discussion trailed on, I pointed to the afore-sworn-at closet door, the one that has locked itself shut over six months ago.  The one that took me three months to work the pins out of the hinges with silicon spray and pliers, the one that refused to budge, the one I was reluctant to drill the lock from the knob, the one more point of failure until I could get a crowbar and pry till I burst into tears door.  

While I was meowing, Brian pulled some sort of gizmo out of his pocket and said wait a minute.  He had a tool with a knife blade that he jiggled and figgled and iggled.  He opened the door in under thirty seconds, by applying the blade to the underside of the bolt as I was saying how I had already done the credit card thing and the knife thing and how I was going to get a titanium bit and finally go through the cylinders.  He just mooched the blade along, pushing the bolt back bit by bit and with flourish, opened the door.

It was like watching a magician separate two halves of a sawn woman.  The door swung free, he unlocked the inner lock, and so performed another miracle in rendering me speechless.  He also enjoyed this, and engagingly showed me his Leatherman tool a ma jig that has these substantial components.  I said, what else can you fix?  He is staying here for a couple more days, and by that time will have raised the non-communicative printer from the dead.  I know he can.  

But there's more:  a beloved friend sent out the SIMs card for the iPhone he is graciously providing for my use to cover an already forgiven debt.  Scotty is a gem, easily one of the most hopeful, encouraging humans on the planet.  He always knows what to say, and lends a solid perspective to both emotional and economic situations deemed unsolvable.  I plugged the thing in, and now have a usable iPhone.  Hip?  Oh. Yes.  A second son if I could ever have another.  

Pauline and I had scoured the West side of the city for pasta and produce earlier in the day, stopped at Ted's Hot Dogs for lunch, and ended up with an impromptu visit to the SPCA.  Oh, so many animals; it was bustling with humans looking for new friends, one can always hope for further happy endings.  She insisted I take some of her bean soup with me; it is in the fridge, waiting for a cracker or two.  What else could happen to make this day extraordinary?  Not one single thing.  I am still astonished, bewildered, and confounded.  Other machinations have turned one notch in the cog, but those are to be examined later, and will be thought about with interest.

Pink at the edges, the night is arriving.  City buildings have turned on their lights, and birds are roosting in the branches of pines.  Today we saw immense turkey vultures gliding over one of the main roadways, and I wonder tonight where those dark birds stay.  Purple clouds umbel out from the central rising moon, children and parents look for a good reading light, dishes are done, blankets are shaken; doors open, lost is found.  Sleep people, sleep dogs, sleep cats, sleep you old turkey buzzards.  New day tomorrow, what will it bring?  Good, sound night.