‘People on the river are happy to give’

Yesterday = Best. Day. Ever.

A severe annoyance pre-8 a.m. could have put a damper on the day. I write off said annoyance to factors at work long before that.

Did a “work from home” day that was mostly spent between Barnes & Noble and Panera at CityPlace. I find I get more done while sitting in traffic than I do in the office — absolutely productive day.

It was also a gorgeous day. 80 degrees. Sunny. Breezy. Magnificent.

But alas, as I was wrapping up my projects for the day (to be resumed Sunday night), the skies parted and Moses came looking for animals to round up. So, I caught a movie (“It’s Complicated”) at the Parisian after the official “Yabba Dabba Do!” escaped my lips at quitting time.

The rain was light when I left and I wasn’t sure I was going to head down to Lake Worth for the beach bonfire, but I did. And just for me, I think, the rain stopped and I truly got to experience why people live in beach towns.

I admit, I never understood “beach people” until now. But sitting next to a huge fire pit in the sand and having the ocean just 12 feet away … aaah. This is my heaven. This is what I will aspire to, every day for the rest of my life.

I saw someone I know there — she introduced me to her friends and invited me to hang with her group. Which was so nice. I opted to do the lone-wolf thing, though. I have far too many half-formed ideas in my head and really enjoyed spending the evening with them.

My clothes, skin, hair — everything — were permeated with firewood and salt air, and it was good. In the elevator at my building, one gentleman said, “You must’ve gone to the bonfire.” It’s that potent. I’d like to bottle this scent and make perfume and candles out of it.

Speaking of (still) smelling like a fire pit, I must hop in the shower now to wash that lovely scent off of my skin. But I am certain, that, for the rest of my life, I will never forget dancing barefoot in the sand as the D.J. spun this glorious little tune. …

“Left a good job in the city,
Working for The Man every night and day,
And I never lost one minute of sleeping,
Worrying ’bout the way things might have been.

Big wheel keep on turning,
Proud Mary keep on burning,
Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river.

Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis,
Pumped a lot of ‘tane down in New Orleans,
But I never saw the good side of the city,
Until I hitched a ride on a river boat queen.

Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river.
If you come down to the river,
Bet you gonna find some people who live.
You don’t have to worry ’cause you have no money,
People on the river are happy to give.”

— CCR (but Tina Turner’s version), “Proud Mary”


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