AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 1, 2005 — A gray, chilly, dreary day. But a day when I find that I feel good and have plenty to feel good about. Why? Oh, I don't know. I don't wake up with a headache. I feel fine when I wake up. Again, I'm supposed to play tennis. But I don't think it'll happen. Everything is wet and there are intermittent showers. No matter. I'll go to the club at the appointed hour and if I don't see the tennis gang, I'll assume a rainout. I fool around a little and drink coffee and head to the club.

The courts near the parking lot are soaked. A light rain falls.

I walk up to the magic draining courts. They look a little soggy, but no puddles. But no sign of the older women who make up this tennis group either. I go to the gym. I have a nice workout. I brought The New York Times for a change of pace although I have also brought my Grass book. (I'm in the seventies now, an era I actually remember but still I wish I'd been paying closer attention to things.) The Science Times is particularly good this Tuesday with several articles of interest...about bird intelligence, alcohol and accidents, cops and seat belt use, alcohol and women's health and the rise of cancer as the number one killer (as heart disease is better controlled).

I have a good workout. Fifty minutes on the recumbent bike. Some weights...mostly for legs but also some bicep curls. Could do better but I feel strong and feel like I'm getting somewhere. I drink first a cup of coffee (on a bike) and then a smoothie while lifting. At one point someone on the bike next to me says, "It's a good day for Bridge."

At home, I am aware that I should clean up and dress relatively soon. It's the day they send the maid. As I'm headed into the bedroom FFP comes downstairs. It's nearly eleven. And he is still in workout clothes. (He went to the club and got back before I left. I'm pleased that he's learned to relax about getting dressed in a tie at a certain time in the morning. I think that's a good thing.) Both of us go into the bedroom/bath. I finish watching the documentary from last night (about gay Orthodox Jews) and start watching one on Iceland and the prevalent believe there in elves and gnomes. We both get showered and dressed and decide to go to the club for lunch and use up our food minimum.

We have a good lunch (cup of soup and giant salad with shrimp, bacon, avocado, peppers). A woman who has been alone at a table speaks to Forrest. They saw each other in the gym. She starts talking to two guys at the next table and sits down with them. Fragments of the conversation drift over. "Now that I'm not going to be married anymore." "Get a good lawyer." (Turns out she has the best. An argument about the character and physical appearance of said locally-famous lawyer ensues.) "I'm eighteen years older than my wife" "But don't you think thirty years is too much?" "After my first divorce...." "After my second divorce...."

"Let's don't ever." I say to Forrest. He agrees as he always does.

We go back home and discuss some investment plans. We agree on some moves. I go into my "parts is parts" boxes and get some more gadgets to take to my friend's house tonight to get her going with an enhanced network.

I fool around on the computer, I read a letter to the editor FFP wrote (to The Wall Street Journal). We make some decisions about social occasions.

Around 4:30, I go to my friend's house. She lives out past Mansfield Dam. It is raining and cold but the traffic isn't bad. She arrives and I hook up a hub so she can plug more than one thing into her network and hook up a wireless antenna so she can go wireless but I don't get that to work with her laptop, but it works with mine. We are celebrating an early birthday for her so we give it up as good enough. She calls Hudson's on the Bend and we go over there. We have a half bottle of Pinot and some apps and entrees. I find mine vaguely dissatisfying. The foie gras is OK but not the best or most generous I've ever had. The vegetarian entree is sort of heavy without being wildly tasty. A bit of my friend's smoked elk is good but I'm not sure about a larger portion of it. We have a nice talk, though, until the five top next to us heats up in a conversation that seems rife with corporate secrets and gossip. I meant to remember some and quote it here but I didn't.

We go back to my friend's house and I collect my gear and drive the dark wet way home, carefully, while listening to jazz on KUT. Instead of French tapes like I usually do.

At home we conclude we've seen the Law and Order they are showing. I read the paper and we watch a DVD from Netflix: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring. A very spirtual piece. We fall asleep before the end, though.

I have such a good life. Three newspapers delivered every day. Endless entertainment on the cable, DVR and from Netflix. Or go to the movies if you like. Eat out when you feel like it. Buy whatever you please at the grocery store. Go to the club every day for tennis or a workout. Enjoy good health. I felt very healthy and strong today. Visit with friends. See opera, ballet, musicals, plays. Have all the books you can possibly read and enjoy trips frequently. Have access to the world through the WEB and maintain many friendships here and all over the country and the world via e-mail. Life is good. And I hope I'm getting better at appreciating it. That would be a goal, anyway.

I also think I'm getting better at understanding what makes life good. I'm more blasé about possessions. I enjoy having all the stuff I have but I understand that giving something away is very good and getting the next thing is something to be considered circumspectly. I spent months making a list of the many things I own and it was very instructive. I think full spiritual understanding comes when you are old and near death! Maybe you get to live until you get there. The good die young and all that stuff. (Nah, I don't believe that, you know. I believe a lot of life and death is random but that we have free will we can exercise to achieve some peace with our situations. Maybe that's what I believe.)