Unbalanced

Out of sync all day. The day started too early. I didn’t run like usual. Instead a vacuumed up the cat hair. Will they ever stop shedding?

When I started writing, I pushed description, forced dialogue. It wasn’t working, so I put Diablo on the leash and took her for a walk. Cat on leash. Something ain’t right about that.

Sunny but cold. Too cold. Was it the drop in temperatures or was it me? Florida isn’t suppose to be this cold is it. I waited until 8:30 for an eight o’clock phone call.

“Coming down with a sore throat, too windy and cold to go kayaking. I’m going to go do laundry. Maybe in a couple of hours, after it warms up.”

Whimp. I could have gone to work this morning and made $20 bucks.

I went back to writing, looking for a motive and a dialogue to push the story ahead. Better?

By noon I felt like I had been writing forever. Let’s go swim a few laps. Heated pool, sunny. Every stroke exposed my arms to the cold. For crying out loud, what am I doing? Out after thirty laps. And getting out of the pool! Freezing. Now who is the whimp? (By the way it is 72 degrees.)

Its 2 pm. My schedule way off. Usually I’m heading home, fixing something to eat and watching Neal Cavuto on Fox at 4 PM, that is if I don’t fall asleep. Instead, I went to the chiropractor, slipped past the tree trimming crew who cornered me the other day in long discussions about my Jeep and kayak. Aren’t you guys suppose to be working?

The entire day was off. Sail club meeting at 7PM. Why am I thinking about joining? I might be here just another three months. Besides, this is the coldest time of year to be out in the Gulf learning about tacking, jibing and all that other nautical stuff I supposedly never learned when I sailed across the Pacific.

I went anyway. Reminded that sailors are sailors. Hesitated at joining, but like all guests I stood up and introduced myself and gave a brief synopsis about my sailing experiences. “Jumped on a 40 foot boat, no sailing experience, sailed 46 days across the Pacific…. Wrote a book about it. Last Voyage of the Cosmic Muffin. Buy it and read it if you want to know the rest of the story.” Chuckles around the room.

At the meeting, guess speaker Mark Epstein, Community Advisor for the Florida Suncoast Hospice. I picked through literature left in the back of the room. Phone ran. Too early for Dad, but that was the way my day was going. I was talking to someone, so I ignored it. A few minutes later I excused myself. Checked message. My aunt from Hawaii.

I called Dad first as it was almost 9 PM, reasoned if I called Aunt Clara, I’ll be on the phone when Dad calls at the usual time.

“Radiologist read bone scan and X-ray. Cancer has not spread beyond prostate.” I begin to cry with joy...unbalanced. New plan.