normalcy

I'm not sure what normal really is, only that I've never felt I am it.
which leads me to wonder if we all feel this way.
if so . . .

then I suppose we're all living in a make believe world, aren't we?

today, a saturday, I went to the grocery store. I rarely have to do this, and it is always enlightening. I try to accomplish all my errands during the week, on the way to or from appointments or carpooling or wherever it is I'm going. but this morning my refrigerator wailed with loneliness and I hadn't yet made it to the shoe repair, a special store for a present for a friend (needed by monday), or to the pet store for my weekly cricket purchase.
so I joined the throngs of saturday shoppers and received a big dose of normal.
normal is any and all of the following:
fit, busy, overweight, slow, in a motorized chair, with a handicapped son, with an overflowing cart, using just a basket, holding a handful of coupons, waiting patiently in line, picking all the same flavors of yogurt that I like, looking through the sale bins, searching through the soup display for the kind that never seems to be stocked alphabetically, waiting at the deli counter, dressed in sweats, unshaven, fully made up, in heels, walking hand in hand, impatient, smiling, frowning, tapping toes, going to breakfast at over-the-counter, waiting for a closer parking place, splashing through puddles, holding a toddler by the hand, using an umbrella, buying more firewood to keep guests warm . . .

I played the game, and was relaxed, friendly, patient, thorough, organized, and amazingly successful with parking places.
and I've been playing the normal game here at home as well: a little work, some laundry, watering plants, cleaning my garage, defrosting the freezer, a little reading, a bit of cleaning, some lazing about, no workout . . .

that's what an intensely rainy saturday will do for this would-be cyclist.