The Day After (Gray’s Party)

What a contrast the day after is to the day of.  I move slower, I feel more mellow, there is kind of a let down from the excitement.  It is true of big games, weddings, vacations, birthdays, and parties.  The day of is all the nervous energy, the getting ready, the excitement, and the waiting.  The day after is the moving slow, reflecting on the time, the clean up, and the trying to conjure up enough energy to get on with the next task.  Gray’s party was no different.  Will people come, do we have enough food (and beer), is the video of his life ready to go, is the house clean?  The day after, where did all the bottles come from, why do we use dishes, what will we do with all this food, did people have a good time, who is sleeping in Katee’s room – cause Katee is in France?

This morning at 9:30am I am finally waking up.  The cob webs are thick.  My stomach has the day after eating a lot of  , or drinking a lot of sugar, blues.  Down stairs I can hear Evan doing dishes, Surf is being feed, and it is time to go assess the damage.  Yep it started pouring rain sometime during the night, we forgot to bring in the wood chairs, and a small table.  The counters are full of bowls and glasses, there is no music playing but no one really looks like they want to dance.  It is definitely the day after the party.  Timmy comes out of Katee’s unoccupied room, Darla has made some coffee and I make up some eggs for all of us with the left over beans, tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and other items left over from Gray’s party.  It is time to start trying to fuel up the engines for another day.

We all smile as we slowly talk about the day before and look at some pictures of the event.  We discussed who came early and who stayed late.  We wondered why Frank doesn’t like his picture taken, and Gracie discovering a bird in the bird house.  Why did people stay away from the Pico de Gallo and Guacamole – could it have been the habanera peppers?  All in all the day after is a time to move slow and rejuvenate for what comes next.

There are lots of day afters in our lives. The might seem like a let down but in many ways they are the start of the next phase or event in life.  We might lay low for awhile, but soon we get moving again, set a course of direction, and begin to gear up for the next “Day Of.”  I live for the “Day Of,” but recognize that I can’t do that without embracing the “Day After.”  Thankfully this one isn’t to rough, despite the number of empty bottles getting wet in the backyard as the rain pours, making this the perfect “Day After.”  Hope your enjoying your day after, what ever your day of happened to be.