No Rain - Go Shopping!

There was a grand finale downpour in the middle of the night, and then the sun ventured a look around today.  We had quite a different day compared to what preceded it.  So, I thought, I must do something different, too. 

I drove across town to the local mall, home of our cinematic megaplex and many trendy stores, in search of something different, new, trendy, chic (well, I can dream) to wear to a function tonight.  In the middle of the day - today being Saturday - there was a mild amount of traffic, and citizens seemed to be behaving themselves pretty well, driving in straight lines and obeying most traffic lights.  The first sunny day after a long stretch of wet slogging storms has a calming, rebound effect on people:  They smile, appreciate almost everything, and say things like, "What a wonderful day!" when they might otherwise flip you off or look intensely sullen.  Shoppers were wandering around the mall's open walkways in a meandering, unfocused fashion, like babies taking their first steps.  The sun was warm and birds were twittering merrily.  Peer Gynt should have been playing from the loudspeakers.  Bambi frolicking in the shrubbery would not have been surprising at all. 

No luck achieving fashion nirvana in store number one.  Just short of finding myself slipping into depression about style, body image, overconsumption of rich foods over the holidays, I simply left all the clothes I had tried on in the dressing room and exited the first store, back out into bright sunshine again.  I took big breaths of clean, negative-ion-enriched air and braved a second store.  Ah, success, my American birthright.  My credit card took a beating, and the clerk looked victorious, but I was relieved and satisfied. 

So, now I must dress and be gone, out into the night.  I hear coyotes calling, and I'll tell you why next time I'm back here again.