A Treasure Found at Home

today is bike to work day and, as far as i can tell, i pass exactly zero energizing stations on my route to work.

that’s fine, really. to be honest, i had planned to bike to work today before i even remembered that it was going to be bike to work day. today i’m going to the office closer to home, instead of in the city. i’m not splitting my time between them, as i do some occasional days now, and … i just bought a new folding bike! not that i needed a folding bike to get to this office, but it does have a nice little holder rack on the back so i can take my lunch or something heavyisher without putting it in my messenger bag. (maybe i’m packing it wrong so that lunch ends up mushed, but thems the breaks.)

i’m just very grateful that as these gas prices have gotten higher and higher i’ve been able to take public transportation to my old office (and have a very nice walk by the bay every day) and that now that i’m in my new office i had a friend selling her folding bike, i’m close enough to ride easily ( < 3 mi ), and i still get to go by a body of water every day. plus, dude y’all, my legs are going to look really good!

• tomato soup
• mac’s mac expertise
• moshing leprechauns
• chai
• twitter
• design your own duvet cover
• secret, the dog, played fetch with me at work
• meowers, aka galahad, cuddling with me in the morning
• distance, breathing room
• blue
• sunroof
• the ferry
• pretzels
• knowing i made the right choice
• kiki’s new home

this morning i drove to work so i’d be able to leave in time to get to my eye appointment in the city. the train comes in just a little too late — it pulls in about when i should be pushing the elevator button downtown. so, driving it is.

i had to stop for gas and wanted coffee so i figured i’d go to a station along 280, but i picked the wrong exit and ended up driving around the suburbs finally finding an easy to enter station just before the place where i could get back on the highway! rock on.

i pulled in and pulled up to the first pump on the third island from the street. as i set things up to pump away, i heard a woman yelling, ‘excuse me!’

she was pretty far away and i couldn’t hear her well, so i didn’t understand that she was yelling at me. finally it sunk in and we shouted across the gas station lot. she asked if i would buy her some ‘food items’. you know, i was going to go in anyhow to buy myself some coffee and a doughnut (knowing full well it was an awful choice of breakfasts), and she wasn’t asking for money, so i agreed.

we met up at the door when my car was finished being filled and i bought her just over $8 worth of chips and drinks and a sammich. she’d asked as we went in about how much i was willing to spend, and asked if she could get ‘a couple’ drinks.

i felt good about being able to share in this way. i’m in a place right now where i *can* do this and there have been times in my life when i wasn’t. just six years ago i stopped drinking much beyond water because it was too expensive, and stopping for a cup of coffee was luxurious to say the least (that was when mom started sending me *$’s cards so i could treat myself — for which i am still grateful). now that i’m living in abundnce, why not share it? i would have felt very different about the exchange if she’d asked for cash, and would have refused.

it was a nice way to start the day. we should all be reminded of just how much we really have and how easy it is to help others and make a connection. it was a nice gift she gave me.

this morning on caltrain there was another fatal collision. when we made it in to work (much more gracefully than last time), i went right to the newspaper’s website. i didn’t find any info on the accident (was it a suicide? were there cars involved?) but i did find a wonderful reminder article on compassion.

i’m feeling stretched to the limit right now, and even if my requests aren’t all coming in from dick chaney, it would be good for everyone involved if i could remember to have more compassion. ladies and gentlemen: i give you jon carroll on compassion.