03/13/2010: "The Unbearable Lightness of Scones"

The day dawned dark and settled into a steady rain so I decided to take myself off in search of inspiration and a nice lunch. I poked my umbrella out the front door and pushed the button, which sent the whole thing shooting off the end of the rod and into a puddle.

At the restaurant, I settled into a window seat and took out my moleskine for company. But I needn't have bothered because the man at the next table was holding forth on the topic of American serial killers and had the kind of voice that includes the whole room, however reluctantly, in the conversation.

On I went to Indigo where I found a selection of $5 journals in the discount bin and picked up a paperback edition of The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith. He is such a gentle cataloguer of the small moments that matter between people. I ordered a hot chocolate, no whipped cream, in a ceramic mug, and sat down at a table with my book. Two pages in and I could feel the warmth creeping into my body, my heart extending to the characters, and through them, full circle to myself.

Three morals in this story:

1. We are never too old to find comfort in imaginary friends.
2. Hot chocolate tastes better in a ceramic mug.
3. Seek and you shall find inspiration, but not always the first place you look.

Yours with creativity and imagination,
Darlene