Great Company: A Solo Date

Good morning, my lovely readers! I was almost tempted to say ‘ my garam-samosas’ and then I realised I was just carrying the Honey-from-HT Cafe hangover too far. 😀 I had the most brilliant day yesterday! The morning rain ruined the grand plans of the day for me….grrr, if I could get my hands on that stoopid shower, I’d strangle it! An hour and a half on a journey that shouldn’t have taken more than half an hour, missed meetings, crunched deadlines, panic all over the place…don’t even ask. Then I stepped out on my own, realizing quite suddenly that I had half a day to myself with no meetings to attend, no appointments to keep up and actually – nothing to do!

So what did I do?

Had a leisurely lunch by myself at a cafe. I enjoy eating by myself because then I can eat whatever I like in whatever order I want without people telling me that it’s weird or envying me for being able to eat what I do and not put on weight. Well sorry, but I’m not sorry that I’m naturally thin. So what I did have was a Greek salad…and phooey to all those who think I’m on a diet, I really do like salads! And to prove my point, I followed that up with a bowl full of cheese garlic bread. And a cup of tea – fruit-flavoured, mildly sweet, no milk…ah, bliss. And a blueberry cheesecake for dessert. And oh of course, Terry Pratchett’s ‘Wyrd Sisters’ for my lunch date. 🙂

After that I stepped out of the cafe and started walking. I used to do this so often when I was younger but I’d forgotten how good it felt. Aimlessly wandering, with a vague-if-at-all purpose in my mind. I did once go looking for a bookshop in the pouring rain, outside Xavier’s college and I made a surprising disovery then. Yesterday I wasn’t looking for anything. I must have walked a good kilometer or two, the mild watery sunshine hovering over me.

Then I sat down in a coffeeshop and read for another two hours. Also scribbled. Stared at people. Walked around. Spoke to the best friend. Smiled at nothing in particular. And stretched. Which reminds me that a friend of my mine once said that I stretched like a cat. Heh. Yes, along with eating chocolate, hugging-and-being-hugged, reading and writing, stretching is my next favorite activity.

It was nice to not have to watch a clock, which is probably the most stressful thing about our lives. Deadlines, meetings and calls at work, appointments, dates, lunches, dinners, coffees, movies and plans…everything dictated by that tyrannical clock. Well for a few hours I just switched the damn thing off.

In the evening, I went for the Persepolis movie. What was I expecting? Well nothing. It was a spur-of-the-moment desicion and I enjoyed it.

All in all, a wonderful day spent, mostly in my own company. I’m such great company, I really should do it again.