Sometimes when things go wrong it’s all right. A cancellation is a free moment, a gift from the universe of an unexpected block of time.
This morning, I’ve had it both ways.
I dropped my son off at school a bit early because I was supposed to teach a class at 8:30. I’d never been there before and it’s in a part of town I don’t know really well, so I was a little worried about getting there on time. Metro to Depo Hostivař, then two stops more on any one of about 6 busses.
I had a beautiful moment of surprise when the train came above ground, as it does at a few extremities of the Prague Metro system, but it’s always an unexpected change, from the blank grayness of the tunnel where your eyes can only focus on the other faces on the train, which are generally set in grim and unpleasant expressions.
Unexpected and sudden. There is still plenty of snow on the ground, even though it’s melting, and we were far from the center of town. There were skeletons of trees standing in stark, bare fields of white. Very pretty.
Exiting the station at Depo Hostivař, I was relieved to see that it was 8:06. Piece of cake. In this city, public transportation units run about every 2 minutes in rush hour. I’d have plenty of time to find the place even if I got lost, which frequently happens to me even when equipped with a map and specific directions.
It was 8:25 before the bus came. So, now I was a bit nervous but still, within 5 or 10 minutes is generally considered on time in this town. Got to my stop and didn’t get lost, but the slushy sidewalks and parking lot made for slow going. I got there at a quite respectable 4 minutes late.
The doorman definitely looked like I was unexpected, but he rang up to the guy’s office and…he wasn’t there. Still at home, he’d forgotten the lesson entirely.
So, I headed for home looking forward to a hot cup of coffee, a good breakfast and a joint. I was enjoying the beauty of the day, icicles dripping, snowbanks slowly imploding, but still longing for the comfort of the cave.
I called my wife to tell her of my good fortune and two minutes later…she texted me with a little errand in town. Every empty space in time is soon filled.
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