In Celebration of Friday Night

Theme song: 1999 (Party Like It's 1999)

Friends, I just turned on the vacation autoresponder in my email settings.

Do you know what that means? Parrrrrr-tay! Not like it's 1999. That was not really a party year for me.

Well, these days my parties are on the quiet side. They involve turning on the autoresponder and panting like a dog for a few minutes before I start cooking dinner, head out to a high school football game, or--yowza!--read a book in bed.

You wouldn't think so, but there is something thrilling about it. I work hard, I hardly play--erm, I mean I play hard. The thrilling part is that each day brings its own strange adventures.

Yesterday, for example, I had a little brush with death. Well, maybe, maybe not. Here's how it happened:

An old man in some kind of wheeled walker asked me if I would be willing to give him a ride. Maybe, because I have an advanced degree in gerontology, I should have known better. Instead, I said, "Sure!" We skimmed along for a half a block until one of the wheels hit a crack in the sidewalk and--Ka Pow!--old man and middle aged woman down. Luckily, all I have is a huge, ugly bruise on the inside of my thigh. Beyond fortunately, the old man emerged seemingly unscathed.

In fact, he laughed a little when he pointed out the sticker on his wheeled walker that said, "Do Not Roll When Seated." Yeah! The old dude kinda played me. He knew he wasn't supposed to use his wheeled walker as a joyride with an attractive younger woman (that would be me, haha), but I guess he was too surprised when I said "yes" to heed common sense.

You know, if he had conked his head or broken his hip I would have been devastated. I mean, sheesh, mama, that was a close one! Every time I think about it, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Though it is exciting to think he was willing to take a risk to have a little fun. Let's remember that when we are in walkers, shall we?

I think it's important to dive into life, because life is an ocean with big waves. Trying to stay safe by standing still is likely to get you knocked over because, really, in an ocean, there's nowhere to go. Diving in, you don't get pulled under or knocked down. You are safer because you took action.

That's not to say that, during the lulls, you shouldn't rest on your back and look at the sunset or the stars and let the calm waters carry you. In my case, that's what Friday night could be. Except that it's not. Because as soon as this is written and published, it's time to. . .Deploy! Deploy! Deploy!

And I'm not sure what the ocean analogy is for that. Do sharks deploy? Or mermaids? Or dolphins?

Actually, the only thing I'm sure of is that dive in or stand rigid, life will knock you down and that, friends, is actually a good thing if you let it be.

{Photo credit: Steve Gerner}