Dearest Rachel –
I wish I could tell you more about last night‘s dream; it felt like I was scrambling to purchase a few more souvenirs before I had to leave town. It kind of resembled the day that Daniel and I were on our way out from Otaru earlier this year, but somewhat more desperate. I woke up almost in tears, with the old song “Climb Every Mountain” ringing in my head – and you know how I am with regards to dreams, so you can probably understand my reaction. But that’s about it.
The real thing is, ever since mid-afternoon yesterday, I’ve been feeling like I’m forgetting something; something I need to do by today or something like that. I did manage to email the lawyers about Mom’s schedule – they need her to come in to sign some papers regarding insurance and Dad’s estate – and hoped that was what I needed to do, but it didn’t settle my mind at all. But without any further information from my head as to what it was that I was missing, there wasn’t anything I could do.
Now that I’ve woken up, I think I’ve figured it out; ironically, however, it’s because there’s nothing I can do today. Today’s a holiday; everything’s closed that would be important. Anything official, anything business related… It all has to wait until tomorrow, and I was sweating things out for absolutely no reason.
I suppose it’s one of the hazards of being retired; you forget when the rest of the world takes time off, because you’re always taking time off.
To be fair, the lawyers aren’t the only concern that had slipped my mind (and now that I know what day it is, can continue to slip my mind for another twenty-four hours). There was also some banking transactions that needed to be taken care of; one having to do with a purchase I’d been debating about for some time (and the debate might merit a separate letter to you, but only once it’s actually gone through), the other pertaining to Daniel’s first car payment with which we wanted to cut the principal in half. Neither can take place on a day like this, where the banks are closed – and I know you’d make a joking reference to Stan Freberg’s sketch from “United States of America” regarding Columbus’ inability to get to a bank for some doubloons to set up the first Italian restaurant in Miami Beach.
But that’s the way it goes, in part to my chagrin, but also to some relief, since I’d spent all this time thinking I’d forgotten these responsibilities – and I had – but also remembering all the specifics once I realized I didn’t need to be so concerned about them in the first place.
And isn’t that the way things work so often? Just like how, when you’re running late, it seems like you get every red light – whereas when you aren’t, it’s like Christmas, with green lights all the way. Here, when it finally dawns to me that I don’t have to concern myself with remembering about all those errands that I couldn’t recall yesterday, the specifics all begin flooding back – although Mom has pointed out that Daniel and I will still have to haul out the trash tonight, as the bin men will be doing their usual rounds tomorrow, and not be putting them off due to today’s holiday.
And now, as a strange little postscript, it so happens that the paralegal doing most of the legwork for us is actually in the office today, just like I am, so we’ve been invited over for Mom to sign stuff regarding Dad’s estate. I was given material to sign, too, regarding your old bonds (yes, that’s still pending, too, and will be for some time to come yet), but since Daniel wasn’t with me, there wasn’t much that I could do. So I had forgotten something I needed today, but I had no idea I was going to need his presence (and in any event, he’s too accustomed to bathing today to have wanted to deal with this, anyway). So we’re pretty much where I would have been; although I offer this as an explanation for the lateness – and brevity – of this letter. Hope you don’t mind too much.
In any event, the rest of the day will probably be very much like any other autumn Monday, so there won’t be much more to report. If there is, you’ll hear about it tomorrow. Until then, keep an eye on me, and wish me (and Daniel) well; we’re going to need it.
