Planning Perfect Days

I've got some time away from work and normally I'd take off for the airport and fly away to someplace strange and wonderful, perhaps explore a new place or visit friends who live far away. But these days of Corona have me being careful, and hesitant to fly. We hear that flying is safe, but there's something about being packed like sardines in a slender metal tube at 30,000 feet that gives me pause. Especially since so many of our fellow citizens feel like the whole thing is a hoax. If everyone were being especially careful I might feel differently, but it is what it is. 

Rather than fritter my days away, I've been thinking about what I might like to do if I were to have free time at home. See friends, read that stack of books, do projects around the house, write and engage other creative projects, day trips to places I'd like to visit. 

Mind you, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a perfect day. I am happy with near perfect, or with simply wondrous moments. So that's where I'm directing my energy. Yesterday I planned an afternoon with an old friend I haven't seen for a year. She has a magical back yard with a pool, hot tub, and a shady deck. She also lives near the ocean, so when I left her place I spent a few hours walking on the Ocean Grove-Asbury Park boardwalks and some time on a bench watching the ocean and sky. It was a beautiful day, so clear and cool. I took off as the sun was setting and swung around to the Bradley Beach bridge, overlooking the marina and a big sky full of changing color. That sky companioned me the whole way home. It was nearly a conversation, certainly a marvel. I thought to myself how we plant seeds for perfect days and are surprised by the beauty we're given.

Today I had lunch with a friend and spent the rest of the day writing. Tomorrow I'll have dinner with another friend in her enchanted garden. Monday I'll drive into the city and picnic with my son. I've got a couple of days in between with nothing on the calendar, because sometimes a nearly perfect day is simply spacious and unplanned.

Days of Accidental Beauty: 40 Days of Noticing is a daily writing practice dedicated to discovery.