Source: Columbia Pictures Corporation (link)
Sunday morning on the back porch. Dogs at my feet. Looking out across the arroyo to the conical hill with the satellite towers on the northern edge. Yogurt with blueberries. A press of coffee. Yellow legal pad with a to-do list for the week ahead.
I ask you: is this the behavior of a man whose wife is out of town for ten days?
Dropped Callie off at John Wayne yesterday. She's off with her sister to see cousins in South Dakota. After a suitably appropriate moment of sadness as I drove off, because I will truly miss her presence, a devilish grin crossed my face. Home alone! I can do whatever I want!
I have lived a life, folks. I have done some crazy shit in my days. Even after the boys were born, a few days without my better half involved antics more appropriate to a bachelor. Pizza every night. Laundry left unfolded. Bed unmade for days and days. We're not talking strip clubs and all-nighters, but I've been capable of rebellion against adulthood. Why? It just seemed important.
Well, let me tell you, I tore it up yesterday. A long workout in the park. Wrote for four hours. Edited thirty pages over lunch at Board & Brew. A nap. Read a while (Bill Buford's Dirt). Practiced my guitar. In bed at 8:30. Yep, that's what rebellion looks like these days.
I don't need to fight the man anymore, because I've become the man.
The Marlon Brandon Wild One rap ("What are you rebelling against, Johnny?” “Whatta you got"), doesn't sound cool in the slightest. I like solitude in extremis but my days as the angry young man are no more. I can still get in a spot of bother about things like e-bikes on sidewalks, people whose politics are just plain dumb, and cross country coaches who cheat instead of actually coach. But really, that's life, not rebellion.
It's off to Mammoth in a couple days for a week with the team. This is the perfect time for Calene to go back east, because Mammoth doesn't make any sense now that our kids are no longer high school runners. It'll be just me in the condo, which is an amazing writer's retreat. In the winter it feels like The Shining, snow higher than the windows and total silence.
And while I will revel in all things Mammoth as I put a final polish on Taking Midway, the truth is that I'll miss Callie. Love is a wonderful thing and I am lucky enough to have a soul mate. I get along just fine when she's not here, but I'm so head over heels for that woman. We are not joined at the hip, which is why her trip to South Dakota and my little adventure in Mammoth are so important. But, you know, I'll be happy to wrap my arms around her when all is said and done.
So there's that. Totally unplanned. Didn't see that bit of emotion coming. I'm so busy rebelling that it snuck up on me.
Have a great week, my friends. Love the one you're with.