A Wednesday

I spent a beautiful afternoon walking across the city on Wednesday. It was finally one of those spring days that I feel completely content to just be outside in, to drink up the air and sun. After what seemed like a long winter this was refreshing and very welcome. The necessity of errands drew me out of my den and weather-influenced good spirits kept me moving along the sidewalks and paths.

When I woke that morning and moved my laptop from beside my bed to my livingroom desk the mouse I used for several years fell and was damaged, leaving it unable to be clicked. I wrapped it in its cord and disposed of it. After mailing an overdue package to a friend of mine I set out to find a new mouse.
Initially I thought I would try out a trackball mouse. I have a laptop so I figured that would be the best option for travelling, seeing that I would not need a surface to use it on. At the store I tried a couple out but was quite let down. The trackball mice were both uncomfortable and lacking in accessable scroll buttons.
I spent some time looking at conventional mice before finding a nice wireless mouse. I’ve always assumed that a wireless mouse would not be best for use with my laptop, thinking that the receiver would be too clunky to be practical. However, this mouse had a very small receiver (about the size of a key drive). What made this mouse the one I would choose were the other features, though. The comfort of holding the mouse was a major selling point. It felt completely natural in my hand and the buttons were easily accessable. 15 different buttons and scroll directions has expanded the range and ease of tasks I can do with just a mouse (I can adjust volume levels, play / pause, move forward and backward on a playlist, launch a media player, return to the top of a website or go back in a browser, all with the press of just one button). The new mouse combined with ObjectDock and a new WindowBlinds skin has my computer feeling like a brand new environment.

With that major errand accomplished I wove my way through downtown Halifax, stopping at several stores and the library. By the time I made my way to the most enjoyable leg of my wandering I was carrying some fine books, a magnetic hematite ring and a bookmark depicting Green Tara, Mother of all the Buddhas. The hematite ring was quickly useful, allowing me to return casheer-spilled change to my hand through the wonder of magnetism.

I have a great love for cemeteries. Many are among the most peaceful places I’ve encountered. The interplay of nature’s trees and human stonework is a wonderful contrast and sometimes surprisingly complementary. On my way home I walked through my favourite cemetery here in Halifax and took some time to snap some photos in it (you’ll find those in my photo section). There’s a remarkable serenity I feel whenever I venture inside its gates. No matter my mood I always leave in at least a slightly better headspace. It’s as though the monuments to other lives that have passed give my own as sense of context and a motivation to do what good I can in the time I’m allowed in this life. The trees, as always, grant me a humbleness beneath their age, strength and beauty. I stepped through the cemetery and walked on through the city, enriched and contemplative as I finished my errands.