Unexpected Treats in a Work Day

Yesterday I had planned to have a working lunch with a colleague friend.  Most of my working lunches are held nearby because both parking and time are at a premium.  Yesterday, my friend and I had more time, and her 2:00 meeting was across the street where there is plenty of parking.  So we decided to have an adventure.

We headed north.  The cold front was already pushing through:  a spit of rain here and there from the gray, wooly clouds overhead.  She knew of a great restaurant with a view.

And what a view!  There was a bit of rolling grass and then some sea grape cover (or was it mangrove?) and then sand and sea.  It was the kind of day when I most like gazing out at the horizon:  deserted beaches and rain rolling in.  But not the kind of rain where I worry about flooded roads and roofs springing a leak.

Of course, the difficulty of a great view is that it's hard to think about the working part of a working lunch.  But we covered what we needed to cover.  We had a great lunch.  We treated ourselves to dessert, an amazing crème brulee that had some sort of chocolate custard underneath.

We agreed that we could have perched there all day, gazing at the steely sea.  We thought about how the restaurant would make a great house if one had unlimited wealth.  We talked about what to do with our limited wealth.  Could one afford a small something with a similar view?

In this time of increasingly severe storms and sea level rise, would one want to?

We exchanged hurricane stories.  We talked of friends elsewhere, like my friends in the Asheville area, who have had worse hurricane seasons during some years than we have down here at the edge of the sand.

And finally, we returned to our less delightful work duties, satiated with good food, wonderful conversation, and a gorgeous view.  And thus, the rest of the work day was drenched with a sense of well being.

We had cared for ourselves, and we returned, all the better equipped to do the work that needs to be done, work which essentially involves caring for others.  I went to classes to tell them about the Art Grant.  I went to a first quarter class to talk to students about how to be most successful.  I called students on the at-risk list.  I evaluated transcripts.

And at the end of the day, a book that I had ordered as a preview copy was in my mailbox.  Hurrah! 

I like a work day that reminds me that work does not have to be drudgery.  I like a work day with unexpected treats.