04
Sep 18
Sep 18
Almost every goal of the day was met
I got out for a morning bike ride. This was a special treat, which mostly involved me waking up early enough to do it.
Being on empty roads was easily the highlight of my morning. Later, I went to work and put together a quiz and wrote an AP Style primer and then lectured a tiny bit on news writing. I was supposed to go into the studio this evening and watch some historic television being made, but that got delayed until next week. History waits for no one! Except when it does.
I did get to do this, however:
The building has a different function now, but it will probably always be a thrill walking by @IUBloomington's Ernie Pyle Hall with an @APStylebook in hand. pic.twitter.com/0eSMfs4Ft8
— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) September 4, 2018
A few times a week I walk by the building named in honor of the scrawny old Indiana journalist. We’re just rich with the Ernie Pyle stuff around here. His desk is one floor beneath my office. Two floors down they’ve recently created an installation showing off his medals, some of his books, his war correspondent field jacket and a whole bunch more. Just outside our building is a sculpture of him sitting at a table and banging away at a story, somewhere in Europe or the Pacific. One day his ghost will show up and point out my typos. (He’ll be a busy spirit.)
Also, I got to ride my bike this morning:
I climbed two little hills on my short ride. It was all a freewheeling, downhill adventure from there.
03
Sep 18
Sep 18
The best thing
The best thing about today could have been sleeping in. The best thing about today could have been about last night, camping out on an air mattress in the living room for no reason in particular. It could have been that it was an off day, a three-day weekend, and prior to a four-day workweek. (That’s a solid contender, no doubt.)
The best thing could have been a hot lunch date, a truly hot lunch date because the restaurant lost its air conditioning last week. On a normal day the best thing could have been the groceries we picked up, or that my car cranked dependably after I replaced the battery this weekend. Those are all good things.
The best thing could be that I made a bunch of slides for an upcoming class. The best thing might have been that I watched football, and I’m talking about that in class tomorrow. The best thing could have been any number of those regular things, or the dozens of tiny things that really make up the details of any of our days.
The best thing could have been some of the text messages I received, or an email that came in late, or the fish we had for dinner.
But, in fact, the best thing was sitting in the recliner, trying to decide what to do about lunch. The Yankee set me up for a joke, and she started laughing at it before I’d even really finished formulating the punchline, because she knew what it was going to be.
That was the best thing.
