Might be a good day to me. But not to all

It was a pleasure driving on the eastern side of the mountains after the rains on the windward side.  There was no need to worry about the rain affecting the visibility or the traction on the road.  I could afford to take my eyes off the road in order to scan the surroundings for interesting sights. And then stop whenever I felt like.

Life is never about getting to the destination.  It is all about what happens when we think we are headed towards it.  Life is, as they say, what happens when we are busy planning for it.  But, we rarely ever consciously live that way.  We get dejected, depressed, sad, heartbroken, and everything else when things don't develop the way we had imagined they would.

And even when we delight at something, well, it is that age old saying that one man's food is another man's poison.

I stopped at an intersection to fill gas.  When driving along lonely stretches, I get paranoid that the gas gauge might be faulty and that I might be better off if I added a few more gallons.  The ever cautious 'better safe than sorry" personality that I am.  Not much unlike Madan's cartoon character, munjaakkiradhai muthannaa (முன்ஜாக்கிரதை முத்தண்ணா,) who, when visiting an old fort walks behind the canon just in case!

It was a lonely rural gas station under the blue sky with a scattering of white clouds.  The air was crisp.  I stood for a few seconds to enjoy the sun and the air.  There was nothing to complain about.

The rural setting also meant that the pump was an older model without a credit-card reader.  I walked into the mini-store to pay.

"Please close that door and turn that knob. Otherwise it won't close" urged the woman at the counter.  Sure enough, the door opened wide behind me.  "Am getting a new door tomorrow" she said as I walked towards the counter after making sure the door closed.

"It is a beautiful day outside" I said.

"Yeeeeesss ..." she dragged as if she really didn't want to agree with that.

After a momentary hesitation, she qualified it with "not a good day with this wind when you are out farmin'"

I was reminded of an acquaintance back in my California days.  He had agricultural interests and often remarked that the good days for us city dwellers are often not the best conditions for those out on the fields.

I resumed driving. I figured that I pay my share of dealing with bad days and I had earned the right to enjoy the sights.  Like the red rocks that seemed like somebody had painted that as a sharp contrast to the landscape.  I am glad I stopped there, for I know not what life has in store for me and whether I might ever see that mountain again.