Today is Saturday, March 8, 2025.
The Smells
This morning, I made myself a fairly simple breakfast- coffee, bacon, leftover potatoes from dinner a couple nights ago, a couple of over medium eggs and a slice of toast.
I make coffee pretty much every day. The smell is familiar, but I am somewhat tolerant of it so I don’t really notice the smell, even though it is there.
Same goes for the bacon.
The potatoes were a new flavor, Hot Honey, but having had them two nights ago, then again last night, I was getting used to the smell.
Eggs frying have that certain distinct smell of hot oil, maybe the funky sulfuric smell of the eggs, but, again, I smell it pretty regularly.
And toast. Nothing really special about the smell of toast.
As I was cooking, the individual smells stacked on each other, and as they joined the cacophony of smells, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it.
I ate the breakfast and it was good. I drank the coffee and it was fine. I went into the bedroom to hang out with Brandy for a bit, then, as I walked through the kitchen on my way to the living room, the compiled odor found its way into my nose and just about knocked me over with the exhilarating aroma. It was just the right mix of familiar yet new. It was a warm and inviting scent and it was magnificent.
The Sights
As I sit here writing this post, I am delighted to notice that, with all of the blinds in our living room open, I can see the outdoors almost all the way around the room. There is not a single cloud in the sky. It LOOKS warm outside (though I know it’s still barely 40 degrees out), and I remarked yesterday that I’ve noticed green beginning to appear on our lawn.
There is still a couple of small patches of stubborn snow that are in perpetual darkness and refuse to melt away, but with temperatures increasing over the next few days, I’m confident it will be gone for good before the middle of the coming week. Hell, it might not even make it through the weekend.
The Sounds
I was listening to my electronic instrumental playlist on Spotify recently when I heard a song that was a lot less electronic than what I’m accustomed to hearing from that playlist. The song was more mellow and seemed to be more natural than the digitally created music that permeates that specific collection. If I had to nail it down, I would say it sounded like a Native American flute. That prompted me to find a playlist specifically of Native music. As I sit here writing this, that is what I’m listening to now. It’s a very soothing and peaceful sound, one that would be perfect to fall asleep to.
Below that is the now-constant hum of the hotel-style heating/air conditioning unit that is installed in the living room and the periodic clinks and clanks that emanate from the machine.
The Mental State
I’ve been in a manic state for a couple of days now. I’m not sure what’s triggered it, but I have been super amped up and its starting to worry Brandy. She’s worried about the potential of a hard crash coming soon, but I don’t foresee one- at least not until there’s a trigger that sends me spiraling. As long as everything remains on the up and up, I should be OK.
Which brings me to a new realization. I am the only one responsible for keeping things on the up and up. I am the one that can keep me from spiraling if something goes wrong, or at least, doesn’t go my way.
The New Series
Since I started this blog (OVER five years ago now!), my mind has opened up to the incredible world around me. As I might have mentioned before, I used to live my life in a constant state of dread, despair, depression, or anxiety. Since the inciting incident that birthed this blog, and further a cementing during the Summer of 2021, I now see things in a whole new light. Colors are brighter, music sounds different, and smells seem more familiar (though, that last one may be due to my recently quitting smoking…)
I’ve taken to journaling- writing my daily observations in a pocket notebook, but some of these reflections deserve a blog post. The idea is that this becomes a daily habit, where I log on and reflect on an Optimistic Observation that I made during the day, the night before, something, and that will help me be mindful of the beauty of the world around me.
And, to boot, I already have something else I’m going to post about later today. I just bought a ticket to go see The Monkey at the nearby Ottumwa 8 movie theater. I LOVE going to the movies, and will likely have a post to make about that experience.
Until then, though, I will live in this moment, soaking up the vibes coming from what I’ve just described.
See you tomorrow!
Phil