Yesterday I woke up suddenly and instinctively bolted out of the bed howling like a demented banshee. I hobbled around the bedroom with arms flapping, wanting to put weight on my leg but unable to. I was in agony due to a God awful painful cramp. The muscle in my calf visibly contorted. After what seemed like forever the cramp began to ease and I was finally able to put weight on the leg. After very little debate I crawled back into bed, feeling very sorry for myself. I needed rest after my ordeal. When my head finally cleared of the pain fog, ‘Voice’ chimed up and informed me I was once again wasting good writing time. Disgruntled with‘Voice’ I fought the urge to hide from the day and dragged myself out of the bed and limped to my laptop. I managed to get 400 new words onto the page before breakfast. The abrupt manner of waking, was made more palatable by this accomplishment though my calf muscle was still tender and achy.
Why am I telling you this? Well my usual mindset to a day starting in this manner is, ‘batten the hatches’ and hide. This day despite the harrowing beginnings surprised me. It was a day sprinkled with unexpected compliments.
With the ache in my leg easing and the manner of my wake up call becoming a distant memory, I enjoyed the walk to work. Listening to the birdsong, noting how there was still a slight chill in the air, yet feeling the heat in the sun and taking note of the natural beauty surrounding me. Maybe the day would prove more promising than first expected.
As I headed towards my office one of the custodians greeted me with a cheery good morning. '
Mr. C' continued with, “Look at you. Always so nicely dressed. You are the best turned out woman in this building. Our very own fashioneasta.” My attempt to suppress a big grin from spreading across my face failed. I know, but I couldn’t help it. “Thank you Mr. C. You're very kind.” I relied beaming.
I have been never been referred to or thought of myself as a fashioneasta. I floated down the hall towards my office as if carried on a cloud. Needless to say the cramp was totally and completely forgotten.
My son’s car has taken ill, so he is using mine at the moment. At the end of my working day he collected me as I needed to make a quick trip to the shop. He stayed in the car while I did my few messages. As I waited for him to pull around in the car park, I was distracted by a man's voice. “A woman dressed like a woman. Thank you." he said. I looked around in a nosey parker sort of way to see who he was addressing. He pushed his trolley past me, turned his head in my direction and said, “Thank you for that, you’ve brightened my day.” I couldn't believe it, he was referring to me. For the second time in one day I beamed.
What was I wearing I hear you ask. Well that’s the thing, nothing special, a dress and cardigan. What I find amazing is how easily an ordinary day was transformed into an extraordinary day.
My calf muscle is all sore and achy again this morning.
Correct….woken by another one of those God awful leg cramps. Yes, I still howled like a banshee, but when the howling turned to a whimper, instead of crawling back into the bed to hide, I delighted in the prospect of new day. Because today I plan to sprinkle a few beams and hopefully turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day for a stranger or two.
