I ran a way from home today.

I woke up angry and could not shake it. To distract my mind, I rage-cleaned my bathroom to a sparking shine. The distraction was working until I looked down and saw my $200 bottle of Chanel No. 5 parfum on the floor. The air in the bathroom became thick with one of my favorite smells on earth as I choked back an anguished scream.

I wiped a single tear and walked the fuck out the front door.

I just wanted a moment away from the suffocating house. I’m no fool, though. I stuffed a power bar in my pocket and filled my Wonder Woman water bottle. Okay, I’ll admit it – I was planning on more than just a moment.

My plan was to walk to the lake down the street and sit and stare at the water until my brain numbed but I detoured when I saw the rocky hill just off the sidewalk. I zigged and zagged around rocks, plants, holes that looked a little too creepy to get near.

At the top, I found a tattered American flag that was symbolic of so many things; including the fact that the world’s population is at very real risk of decimation by a “hoax” virus.

I stood at the top and soaked up the silence and coolness of the wind while it soothed my frazzled nerves. As I felt a calmness creep through my extremities, I looked around at rocks that have been and will be here far longer than humans too stupid to heed scientific warnings but will follow the inane words of a bombastic airbag who visibly becomes more incoherent and dangerous with every syllable he slurs.

I looked down at the housing developments and marveled at the silence that had been so soothing a moment before but now was eerily prophetic of a post apocalyptic world.

I sat my ass down an a rock and ate my power bar with Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and Cat Stevens. I put the empty wrapper in my pocket and watched a tiny ant scurry past with a crumb I had dropped. When I lost sight of the ant, I shook my head and focused more closely at the ground at my feet to find a solace in the textures of the hill. I found a beauty that ground me to the moment. In this hectic world, it couldn’t (and, didn’t) last long but I reveled in it for as long as I could.

Run away with me:

Stay safe. Stay informed. Stay in the moment.