map node

You know how there are good kinds of tired? Like when you've done a hard day of physical labour and you know you've given your all, for example. I was reminded today of another good kind of tired that doesn't involve physical labour at all. It's the kind of tired you get when you've been on a road trip... It's a hot day, so the windows are down and your hair blows around like crazy and you feel like putting your feet up on the dashboard, just because you can. You're with a good friend that you don't get to see much and it's just the two of you and you talk and talk and talk, over the sound of the wind whipping around in the car. And the dry, rugged hills of Northern California flash by as you adjust your visor to block the sun which seems to dance around you as the road twists and turns. And you play with the air vents to get the cooler air to your hot spots, just so. You pull over to take photos of the feeble little clusters of baby grapes that will one day be served up as wine in pretentious tasting rooms, and the whole things seems simultaneously simple and ludicrous. You stop for lunch at a fabulous little restaurant where you get to sit under enormous canvas umbrellas and feel the breeze come up the Napa Valley to cool your body, just right, like God's directing the air vents just for you. And you eat yummy food and drink Pinot Blanc and laugh when the wind whips the linen napkin off your lap, and smile when the handsome waiter brings another napkin almost before the first one hits the ground. And you're full of good things, like memories and dreams and friendship and grilled asparagus and prociutto. And your friend is also relaxed and full and tired-- which is a feeling more intoxicating than the single glass of Pinot Blanc consumed with lunch-- so relaxed that her tongue trips a bit and the 'm' and the 'n' change places so that she declares she's in map node, not nap mode and you both laugh like it's the funniest thing you've ever heard. Yup. That's a good kind of tired.