SENTINEL WATCH October 18, 2004 Issue

Be quiet and mop!

By Steve Gray

It Was One Of Those Mornings that begin with a low-level sense of dread. Maybe you know the feeling.

It wasn't that anything terrible was about to happen, but that the day ahead, and the days beyond it, felt heavy with responsibility and burden. Too much to do, too little time, difficult things to figure out, and a sense that they had to be done right. Things were crowding in too close.

I had a feeling that what lay ahead, and the complicated course to be navigated, might be more than I could handle. I longed to be able to take a deep breath and feel happy about going forward.