Do you get credit for courage if you bravely approach and walk past what you believe to be a snake, which then turns out not to be a snake? I was walking this evening, and saw what looked very much like a snake, coiled up in the middle of the road. I walked toward it, intending to pass it as widely as possible, but to pass it nonetheless. It turned out to be a pair of baseball or golf gloves. Don't ask me why they looked like a snake; just trust me that they did. Had they been a snake, they would have bitten me.
*****
Strange things happen sometimes. Today, a coworker who almost always brings Starbucks to work was instead drinking a homemade smoothie from a reusable travel tumbler. Another coworker, who usually drinks a homemade smoothie every morning, was instead drinking takeout coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. The first coworker almost always wears pants; today, she wore a skirt. I almost always wear skirts; today, I wore pants. What kind of through-the-looking-glass rabbit hole did I fall into, I wondered. The rest of the day proceeded without incident, however. Until the snake.
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It's May 18; Memorial Day is just over a week away. So right now, I'm sitting on my couch wearing a sweater, as a fire crackles away in the fireplace. The weeks of cold and rain have affected more than my mood; I feel like I have lost track of time and seasons, and am permanently anchored in some London-like place where it's always cool and misty and gray. People do things that are just slightly off, just slightly out of character. Things look like other things. I boldly approach a snake and walk right past it. Yes, it was an imaginary snake, but I didn't know that at the time.
