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Just a Perfect Day ...

By Gloria Diaz

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Fort Wayne Reader

2013-10-04

A few weeks ago, I had a really good day. No, I didn't carpetbomb my enemies or win the lottery. It was just a really good day. A working day, if you can dig that. And it was a MONDAY. No, I wasn't on drugs at the time, either. It was just a really good day. My classes went well; I got some papers graded. It made for a long day (10 hours) but it's funny how my teaching days go so quickly, but my retail shifts drag. I came home and took Daphne for a walk and I was smiling. Smiling. That's something I don't do a lot of. I'm just not a smiler. But that night, I was smiling. Life, for the first time in a long time, felt like it was calming down a bit. The sky was beautiful, the temperature was perfect, and all of my body parts seemed to be working. Life was good.

It was almost frightening how nice it was. This moment came after a summer of poverty, worry, health concerns and a feeling that my best days were behind me. But on this night, things felt okay.

I paid attention to this feeling. I have a tendency to dwell on the negative, so it was really kind of nice to come home knowing I had plenty of food for a good meal. On the way home, I encountered a former co-worker who was out scrapping for metal. It was the night my neighborhood sets out the garbage, and he was on the hunt. He pulled in the driveway and we chatted for a while. Talking to him made me realize things could be worse.

He was struggling, like a lot of people are. He was on the verge of losing his house. Something was going on with his CDL. He told me about a driving job. Coincidentally, one of my students told me about the same job. It was nice to see him again, as it is sometimes with former co-workers and acquaintances.

I went back in the house and decided to try out my new firepit. A branch fell off one of my trees earlier this summer, and I had plenty of wood to burn. Inspired by the sight of flames, I decided to cook out. I had some salmon, which I smeared with curry power and brown sugar, and forgot just how fast the cooking time is when one cooks over flames. The salmon was a little blacker than I'm used to, but it was still pretty good. It was just cool enough to enjoy a fire, and I watched the wood turn orange and red and was that blue? Yes. The moon shone overhead and I felt like a pioneer sitting by the fire. Never mind that there were two cars in my driveway, and the next door neighbor's anti-theft device was blinking in his truck. I was sitting outside burning, errr cooking my food over the fire.

Since the fire was still hot, I decided to pop some popcorn. Why not? It was a really nice day, and I wanted to end it on a good note. Plus, I was still hungry.

I figured out the secret to great-tasting popcorn is popping it in coconut oil. I don't think it's too healthy, but if I wanted that taste (and smell) I needed to get the right oil. However, this popping experience went wrong. Maybe it was because the oil had been in the refrigerator and I hadn't properly melted it. I'd just dumped it in along with the unpopped corn and was rewarded with a scorched pan and the smell of burnt popcorn, which probably ranks right up there with cat urine in terms of unpleasant odors. I still had some popcorn left, so I did it the right way this time, in the kitchen over a flame that I could control with a twist of a wrist. This batch came out better, so I popped open a can of caffeine free Coca-Cola, and put in Boogie Nights in the DVD player. Why not? I had the next day off.

It was just an astonishingly good day. I didn't win the lottery, I didn't kill my enemies. It was just an ordinary day, a working day, if you can believe that, and it was one of the most enjoyable days I can remember. I hope there are lots more to come. Because it's about time.