Leisure

"No thinking about work or job choices or lack of job choices tomorrow," Friend decreed last night before bed. "Just flowers. Or something fun."

I mumbled my agreement, already snuggled between a pile of pillows and a sleepy dog in the office. She soon went to sleep with Prettiest Cat in the master bedroom with our vague plan of 'no thinking about work' day.

I broke the rules from the beginning. Friend read a paper of mine last night and I finished editing and submitted the final document while she was just beginning to sip coffee this morning.

"What time did you wake up?" she asked, blinking sleepily.

"10:00," I replied, glancing at the clock and realizing that was a mere 15 minutes ago. But I puzzled over paragraph placement and finally decided to follow Friend's suggestions because they made the document easier to read. I still hesitate to put background material in the results section, but it seemed the most logical for this particular explanation. I uploaded files, read my proof and submitted the paper for review. Then I read blogs.

At noon, we looked at each other again, having accomplished little. "It's hot out," I offered from my spot on the loveseat and she shook her head in disagreement. I frowned and sighed, going to the kitchen to load the dishwasher.

"OK," I finally said. "We can take Prettiest Cat home and you can pick up those notes you needed. Then we can go to campus, I can download my audiobooks and you can finish your work." I did not realize this violated the rules of day of leisure, but I eventually would. "Then we can head toward flowers. Oh, and eat. I need food or I'll get sick in the heat."

It started out reasonably well though the order of events changed slightly. We finally loaded Prettiest Cat in a carrier and placed her in the car. We drove to Friend's house, I petted cats and she found the notes she needed. We stopped for salads and sandwiches and I sipped sweet tea while feeling impressed and grateful that Panera had found tomatoes for sandwiches. I miss tomatoes.

We ended up at one of the many pretty places in town and trekked inside, cameras in hand. We looked at and in buildings.

"I want to see the water," I said, already dabbing at the sweat on my forehead, so we walked toward the spring. "Oh," I breathed when we saw it, "it's pretty."

"It is pretty," Friend agreed. "Humid though."

"Look!" I called after moving several steps down the path, "A structure of some sort! Like a bridge."

"Well," Friend explained as she followed behind me, "this is the path we're supposed to take. So it makes sense to cross over the water."

"I'll get hot," I warned, already wiping at my face again. "Brace yourself for the whining." We both took a breath and soldiered on, finally moving away from the quiet gurgle of the flowing water and down a path that cut through parts of the plantation. We took pictures as I trudged quickly through the unshielded patches of relentless sunshine and slowed to glance around once I found shady refuge. Once slightly cooler - enjoying the breeze once I was protected from the sun - I sighed over the play of light over the petals of flowers and lush greenery.

"This," I told Friend when I finally convinced her to leave, "is the most miserable I've been in recent memory." She laughed and I continued to explain/complain. "I've traveled and interviewed and agonized over job decisions. Yet I'm drenched with sweat, very hot and completely tired of being here. This is the most miserable I've been in recent memory." She said something about it not being so bad and reminded me of perspective and I rolled my eyes. Then blinked hard when sweat got in them and stung.

"This didn't work out as planned," I noted as we ended our excursion in her lab while she finished things up. She'd finished telling me that the group will surely be scolded by a disappointed PI because nobody managed to have stunningly perfect results from this weekend. Friend started to plan her next moves - experiments and job possibilities and work for the graduate papers she's trying to write - and I sighed over the email I'd received from Adam while downloading my audiobooks.

He said not to worry. The relocation package is great and everything will go smoothly and easily. So onward I go, I suppose. I'm back to worrying over job options while giving part of my attention to a blog post. It was a nice try - the water was lovely and the flowers pretty. But life sometimes pushes in and demands worrisome attention from me. But it will be OK - even the worst misery eases in an air conditioned car. And someday soon, I'll compare offers and make a decision.

Until then, look at the pretty pictures!