Entry:

I figured that I would sleep well into the afternoon after staying up all night getting a lot of things off of my mind.  However, my friend Charley, who called me only 2 or 3 hours after I finally fell asleep,  had different ideas.  He was studying for his final which was on the following day, so not wanting to cook, he invited me out to lunch.  When I gained control of my senses and realized how hungry I was, I agreed to join him for lunch after I took a shower.

We went to Charley's favorite Japanese restaurant in to Berkeley, Toyo's.  I ordered the teriyaki combination for lunch which included two teriyaki items of my choice, which were chicken and salmon teriyaki.  After eating lunch and chatting over some hot green tea, we went to the campus.  I dropped by lab but was in no mood to work, so I decided to just walk around for a while.

I didn't really have a plan as to where I was going to go, but I headed in the direction toward my apartment.  I eventually found myself on the wooden bridge, with a large tree growing through the center, located between VLSB and Harmon Gym.  I plopped myself down and sat on the bridge for the next five hours...

I tried to gather my thoughts as I listened to the south branch of Strawberry Creek pass under me.  I wasn't thinking all that much, but I was just trying to experience and absorb everything around me.  I closed my eyes and listened to everything that was going around me.  I carefully listened to all of the sounds that we usually consider annoying background noise... the quick, sharp sounds of a jackhammer, gruff voices of construction workers yelling at each other, the amazing variety of sounds and vibrations from the footsteps of people crossing the bridge, the quick hum of the bicycle wheels as they roll across the wooden planks, the crisp sounds of dry leaves blwoing across the bridge, bits and pieces of various conversations, the sound of people digging through the garbage looking for cans (only in good ol' Berkeley)...

The sights... I stared in wonder at the canopy that the trees formed over the bridge, various branches intertwined with each other in a never-ending fight, the stumps on those branch where man is trying to control the growth, the rays of sunshine that pepper the banks of the creek, a dragonfly with a turquoise blue body taking in a little sun, tiny little bugs busily going to and fro, leaves dancing with the steady breeze, and a bright green baby praying mantis that found its way onto my arm.

The sights and sounds swirled in head and mingled with my thoughts.  I just sat there and experienced everything.  I reflected upon everything that happened.  It was so hard for me to believe that a whole week had passed already...

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