Happy as a dog's tail

Today it's sunny and warm, that last bit of glorious weather just when you thought summer had folded away the blue skies and headed south. I found a new route for my bike ride to school, which takes me past a small lake as well as a whole lot of green, though there is still a fair chunk of industrial wasteland. Today I rode as fast as I could to see how late I can leave using this new route and still be on time, and I saved exactly two minutes out of forty, which made me laugh. It was fun, but it would probably be easier to get up two minutes earlier and take my time! Class discussion was great. Afterwards I had coffee with a friend, then biked home and ate some lunch. Any minute now I will plunk myself down at my desk and get back to work. 

It all sounds mundane, just an ordinary day. And it is. But I wanted to write because today I am happy, really deeply happy. I enjoyed every second of biking. In class, I was engaged in discussion, and though it's hard work, the three hours flew by. I had a good talk with my friend. The pear and brie I had when I got home tasted like the best food on earth. I feel like a layer of pond scum has been scraped away and I am right smack in the world, more than I have been in ages and ages. 

I can't give being sober all the credit. The sun is shining, my class was good, my friend was free for a rare hour, I had a local pear from the farmer's market in the fridge, my bike is out of the shop after a few days in and the gears actually work again. But because I am sober, I am here and aware, and I can appreciate those things all coming together on a a truly great day. So that's me, day 67, happy as a dog's tail. (Thanks to Polish poet Anna Swir, from whom I stole my title.)