Another day in paradise

It was one of those days today -- lining up a return visit by the tile guy, dealing with the HVAC guy, the electrician, the pool guy. Bleh.

Robert and I decided to head over to Higgs Beach for sunset, and sat under a palapa where a few guys were quietly shooting the breeze about linguistics, classic cars, the way they dream. . . .

The sun started setting, and people who had cameras got them out. Another guy strummed a guitar and hummed softly.

One guy sitting near us said he'd been working on his house for two years, and I told him I'd recently had a few days of construction panic. Even so, I said, probably more to convince myself than him, the worst day here is better than the best in lots of other places.

"I hadn't thought of that in a while," he said, shaking his head. He smiled: "Thanks. You just made my day."

And that made mine, to remember the power of a word of encouragement.