Saving Daylight

 About a year ago, I bought a prayer pocket necklace from the company Natural Life.  I’m typically drawn to Natural Life’s ads because of their bright colors and happy vibe.  I’d never had a prayer necklace before, or really a prayer-anything-object, but it struck me as something whimsical to have.   It’s a longer necklace with a simple chain.  Hanging at the bottom, at heart level, is a brightly colored beaded pocket with a flowery mandala design.  Accompanying the necklace are little metal trinkets, symbolizing things you might pray over, like health, family, goals, courage, success, love, faith, home, children, and travel.  Maximizer-me was lured by the autonomy of the thing.   I did what I always do when I purchase something that I’m excited about using, that has any hint of perceived magic to it, or that requires a bit more special thought behind it - I deemed it Important Thing I Own Only To Be Used Carefully and Deliberately.  I wore it exactly twice in the calendar year of 2022

This whole surgery thing came with a few fringe benefits, and I'm proud to say that I took advantage of them in a huge way.  If I can get the stars aligned such that I am:  - one, off work for more than a second - two, feeling what felt miraculously fine when compared to how I anticipated feeling;  - and three, have this dream of a support system at home that knows a trip (or two, as it turned out) to NYC would be the obvious answer to any troubles real or imagined, then I'd be onto something.   And onto something I was.  So here is the extraordinarily spectacular experience, captioned and detailed, with gratitude.  The first completely solo trip was from October 10th through the 13th.  The second trip, with my sister-in-law, was from October 22nd through the 25th.  These are just details that don't matter unless you're a calendar person and deem things in your personal life as sacred - a silly thing my brain does from time to time or maybe always but you need not fixat