I’m in a mental lag.  A political time-out.  A philosophical null-space.

     Does this happen to anyone else?  I care deeply about my country and my world, and I work hard to stay informed…

     …but I go through these periods of time where I just can’t be bothered to be bothered.  No matter how bright the light or how shiny the object, I’m not to be distracted from getting through the daily business of life.

     Maybe it’s that Rocky’s been gone a lot and I’m busier than usual just trying to make life work the way it does when there’s two of us around.  Maybe it was all the training I’ve been doing lately in the run-up to Diamond Nationals, and focusing my battle-urge there.

     Yesterday I did laundry, went to the gym, ran five miles, had Sue over to visit on her lunch break, mowed the lawn, helped the kids with their homework, got Grasshopper to and from orchestra practice, watched a couple episodes of M*A*S*H, and went to bed.

     I don’t think I had a stray thought all day.  In fact, I don’t think there was one moment where I was thinking about anything other than what I was doing from moment to moment.

     I’ve had a lot of those days lately, and I’m not sure I care for it…even though I know I am more effective and get sooo much more done when I’m like this.

     In a way, it’s kind of nice to know that I can have that kind of focus.  In others, it’s scary because it’s just so…not me.  Normally I’ve got so many thoughts ping-ponging around in my head at once that they smash into each other and make weird connections that I find endlessly amusing.  Normally my brain is this huge, full-color shifting kaleidoscope of images and thought-patterns that rarely settles into anything remotely coherent.

     It’s not the most efficient way to think…but it’s endlessly amusing.

     I go through these periods where I’m very focused, calm, and productive.  My brain doesn’t pick up every stray bit of pocket-fluff and flotsam to play with…and I get a little out-of-sorts because what if I stay this way?  That’d be no fun at all.

     But hey…I get a lot done.  And as they say in Firefly, “That ain’t nothin’.”