Tuesday, June 19, 2018

What a day!

Everything about today has approached flawlessness!  The glorious sunshine under an azure sky; the dry, windy air; the most agreeably warm temperature. Even now as we prepare for the end-of-day evening meal, I am savouring the mouth-watering aroma of sautéed vegetables. I suspect my increasing appetite (after having had only an orange and banana for breakfast this morning before we went bicycling) is part of the magnetism, the advantage to evanescent deprivation. The lazing experience is highlighted by pleasant jazz music.

If I am to be truthful, much of my raging sublimity is the result of having addressed an issue with my new car.  It is always tiresome to confront the reality of things in general (and machines in particular); viz., that nothing is perfect. In spite of the allure of shiny newness and freshness, it is invariably but a matter of time before creeping erosion and fault have their pruning influence. An even more depressing result is what clearly amounts to deliberate denial and avoidance.  It is that latter shortfall which I successfully side-stepped today (another undoubted promotion of my current state of well-being). Not without a degree of effort, I persuaded myself to tackle the obsession.

From the outset of my arrival at the car dealership the progress corresponded to an uplifting story-book account. The service staff attended to me efficiently and quickly.  I was connected with the Shop Forman. Conveniently he is from the Ottawa Valley.  We shared mutual stories about our favourite nearby places (at one of which he disclosed that his wife is related to the chef).  Whether this had any part in legitimizing my complaint about a high-pitched and slight whirring sound at 64 kph I do not know.  But when I invited the Shop Forman to decline to investigate, he offered that he heard the noise; and that although the location of noise is like hunting for a needle-in-a-haystack he will nonetheless examine the matter by communicating with other dealerships about similar complaints, and then checking the drive shaft for what he heard recently was a small slippage in an adjoining ring. Well!  That pretty much settled the point!  Specifically it assuaged my looming resolve to abandon the entire cavil.  We booked an appointment. Things were rapidly looking up on this already spectacular summer day!

My enchantment was only just beginning! As though having been momentarily stunned, I edged my way from the dealership into the wide, forbidding world beyond. My burgeoning enthusiasm began to percolate.  I reasoned that a drive to Neat Café in Burnstown was in order; and further that there was no objection first to stop at Second Cup in Bells Corners for an eye-opener. My recent shift to decaffeinated tea at home ensures that whenever I am near a coffee shop I order "a quad espresso".  Though there were people lined up at the counter, I "checked the children" then awaited my turn to place my order. Afterwards I sat by the window and waited for the young barista to call out my order.  Meanwhile I added the name of the Shop Forman (and his three year old son) to my iPhone.

The drive to Burnstown was superb! I put the windows down and opened the landau roof.  The sacrament of heaven!  Occasionally I interrupted my pleasure by closing the windows and roof to verify whether there was a whirring sound when suggested.  It reoccurred frequently enough that I have not altered the initial plan. Removing myself from that particular harness gave me all the more room for basking in the day.

The reception at Neat Café was terrific as usual.  Sitting on the patio, sipping espresso and watching the bees in the garden was divine!

The drive home was equally compelling - magnificent country fields, ribbon of highway, saunter through a village, savouring the sun and the wind.  This counts for the first day of summer!

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