A Slice of the Good Life

Today is one of those rare days, when the moon and the stars are aligned and the numbers all add up, just shy of ten o'clock, to form the first ten digits of pi. It will happen twice today, and then never again until the next century. 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.  3.141592653 -- a small but satisfying helping of the infinite pi.

A rare day on an otherwise rarefied weekend --at least for this empty nester. I am spending two full days in the company of two of my three children, and though I am partial to cake and cookies, I am happily helping myself to a hefty slice of pie -- the pie -- on "Pi Day." Two thirds -- .6666666666, to be exact.

I was slightly disoriented when I woke this morning in a hotel room in New Orleans, and not only because it did not smell or sound like flatulent dog. Looking up from my low perch on a rollaway bed, I saw my two daughters sleeping peacefully on opposite edges of the king size bed. (I had assured them I preferred the rollaway; it's a much shorter trip to the edge of the bed, and that's a big deal when you have to pee in the middle of the night and all your bones and joints feel as if they've been soaked in concrete.) They looked so peaceful, and so small.

Whether it was the creaking of my unfolding limbs or the soft grunt that escaped my lips when my feet hit the floor, they each opened an eye and stared. "I love you mommy," said one. The other lifted up one arm in a what appeared to be a failed attempt at an air hug. I kissed the top of each of their heads and tiptoed to the bathroom. I cannot remember the last time I did that (kissed my sleeping children's heads, that is, not tiptoed to the bathroom, although I do admit there was a hint of an unfamiliar spring in my step). It promises to be a day of rare pleasures.

New Orleans is certainly the place to go for good music and solid people watching. Still in my hotel room, well before dawn, I heard and saw some of the best, sleeping only a few inches away from me and breathing in the same air. A rare slice of pie on "Pi Day," and, pardon me for seeming piggish, hopefully only the first of many.