Taking a Walk

My day job has been insanely busy lately. Today was a deadline for a huge project in the Human Resources department, one which required every employee of the company, in each office across the country, to submit paperwork to us. This has been widely known for more than two weeks, yet the bulk of the papers arrived today: the last possible day on which they could be submitted. Additionally, there are still more than 25% of the staff who have yet to submit their documents. You can guarantee that this 25% will also be complaining loudly when they have problems in a month's time because their paperwork was not submitted in time.

I have worked through my lunch every day this week - every day except today. On this, the busiest and craziest day I've ever had with my current job, when I had every intention of working through lunch yet again, I was invited by a colleague for a walk along the river for fifteen minutes. She knew how crazy my day was and convinced me that I would be better for a short break in the fresh air. How right she was!

Fifteen minutes on the footpath beside the river near our office: enjoying the sunshine, the fall colours in the trees, the teal green water with tiny whitecaps dancing in the breeze, the fresh clean un-air-conditioned air. I went back to my office with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. My batteries were recharged and I pounced on that mountain of paperwork with renewed vigour.

Funny what a difference fifteen minutes can make.

Art

Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited to the gallery opening for a friend's most current works of art. Normally I'm more of a "traditional art" kind of girl and don't understand or appreciate most modern art. This time, I was pleasantly surprised. This lady used concrete as the medium in which to capture the enlarged images of tiny, transient objects. I was captivated by the series of dandelion seeds, in their wispy floating glory.

While it was hard to choose a favourite, I think I'd have to go with the series of coffee rings. There was something about the little splash on one side that had me wondering. Did the coffee drinker spill because the drink was too hot? Because he/she was laughing with a friend and put the cup down on the table with a thump? Perhaps the drink was cold, not hot - no one said it was coffee. Maybe it was a tall gin & tonic, sipped on a hot day out in the back garden, and the condensation dripped from the glass and pooled on the table.

I may not know a thing about modern art, but I do know when I have a fun afternoon.

Pets: Gotta Love 'Em

Funny how when someone does something nasty to you, is petty and vindictive and makes you so angry you could just spit, giving a furry four-footed friend a pat and a cuddle makes things a bit better.