A Poem For A Friday

Happy The Man
John Dryden

Happy the man, and happy he alone,
    He who can call today his own:
    He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do they worst, for I have lived today.
    Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

I usually have a really, really hard time with old school poets and this guy is really old, writing in the late 1600s. But this poem is another perfect little specimen of living in the moment propaganda. "What has been, has been" and whatever tomorrow brings, so what, I've had a great time today. So helpful to read something like this especially given my own struggles to really embrace the now without dwelling on the past or fretting about the future. Maybe even more so now given this new context we have for the world around us.... 

Surprise! We Went To Detroit!

Let's call him the master of surprise shall we? On my birthday, my husband handed me a card that read "Ticket to Boston for January 21" The card had some optional hints that would provide sequentially more informative details around what to expect. I used a few and learned that the adventure's start time was 6:15am and that our first stop was the "Park and Ride." I then resisted every bone in my just-can't-be-surprised body to refrain from turning in the "Main Event" and "Full Spoiler" hints.

Boy did it pay off. Friday night he instructed me to prepare an outfit for "walking around" but also bring a nicer change of clothes for dinner. Saturday morning dawned bright and early and he said "ya know, with the traffic from the Women's March in Boston, we might want to be prepared to get stuck there overnight. You better pack a bag." HA! So I went into my dresser drawer to grab some stuff and happened to notice that my Rangers tee shirt, zip up sweatshirt, and long sleeve shirt were not in their usual spot of honor. An inkling began to emerge...

It was confirmed as we pulled into Logan Airport and boarded a plane bound for Detroit! The main event was indeed the Red Wings v. Rangers game on Sunday, but we enjoyed a full day in downtown Detroit before a good sleep. A ride on their "people mover," delicious deep dish pizza, wandering through a winter carnival (in the 55 degree temps), amazing coffee shop with pneumatic tubes to deliver fresh roasts right to your cup,  excellent massage, scrumptious steak dinner,  and a (losing) trip to the local casino. Sunday brought us to Joe Louis Arena, one of the oldest hockey arenas in the country about to be replaced by Little Caeser's Arena next season.

We got up close and personal at the ice's edge during warm ups after a near miss encounter with the Rangers bus from our hotel (THEY STAYED IN OUR HOTEL) to the stadium then sat in the fifth row (!!!) to watch a relatively boring 0-0 game before the Rangers won it in sudden death OT with a super sweet shot by JT Miller. Rumor has it that we were also spotted a few times on NBC's broadcast of the game. I was totally surprised and I loved every minute of the adventure! Now what on earth am I going to get this guy for HIS birthday?!

A Vermonty New Year

Such a great long weekend with my bro and his wife up in their new home of Burlington, Vermont. Relaxing, invigorating, joyous, fun, funny, and an overall wonderful time. To ring in the new year right, I'm going to remain as lazy as ever and just let the photos do the talking. Cheers!