Picked Clean

Today's walk took us by Long Marine Lab, the marine sciences branch of UCSC. There's a small aquarium, pools for marine mammal studies, and labs for research. All the facilities were closed, but the hiking trails were open and it was a beautiful day. The gray whale skeleton is always a big hit with kids, but today it was just us and the bones enjoying the sunshine.

I had a silly mini breakdown this afternoon after using the ATM machine. I tried to isolate just one finger to do all the poking, but then I had a contaminated finger! I felt like it was glowing. And I couldn't pick up the money with one finger. So there goes my hand. Can't open the car door with a radioactive hand. Search for hand sanitizer. I know there's a sample bottle somewhere in one of my pockets. Can't stick my hand in every pocket. Then I'd have to wash everything. Find the sanitizer. Squeeze out a little. How much is enough? It's a very small bottle. This stuff smells terrible. Okay, done. I'm in the car. But the cash is all stuffed in my pocket. I have to take it out and put it in the wallet. My hands are radioactive again. The cash is radioactive. My lovely buttery soft leather wallet is glowing. I can't bleach it, spray it or sanitize it. It has money in it. My bank card. My bank card touched the machine and now it's in my wallet. I want to go home. I wash my hands. I take the money and put it away. That was the wrong sequence. Do over!  I am trying hard not to be nuts, but sometimes I'm so confused, so overwhelmed, so stuck on paralyzing details. 

No wonder we are exhausted at the end of the day. Every one of us is striking out in new territory every minute, inventing, inventing, inventing, tap dancing at a frantic pace to stay afloat. Mixed metaphors are the least of my concerns. 

I remember how it was after the 89 earthquake, another time when our world was knocked upside down. No one knew what to do, we figured it out as we went along, trying to do our best. 

Be kind. Try to eat well. And for goodness sake, get a good night's sleep. 

Day Four