On a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest and ten being phenomenal, my productivity level today has hovered right at a negative eight—below slug level. As is my right as a citizen of the state of Florida on this pollen-dusted spring day, I’m blaming my lack of progress on seasonal allergies.

Okay, the antihistamine is kicking in, I’m not sneezing anymore, but now I can’t keep my eyes open.

Peace, and gesundheit, people!

Where the sun is setting, and silence fills the world, when you feel dog-tired and weary from the day, may you know that there is grace for everything you have to face.

May you experience inner peace as you let go of the stress. Of all that’s still unfinished. The pressures of the day. The questions still unanswered. The fear that is still there.

May you know that – for this night – you can put it all on hold. You can leave it all behind. Let the heaviness slip off.

Forget about the problems, the burdens that you bear. Forget about the heartaches, the worries and the cares.

Instead, you can just breathe. Let the silence fill your mind.

Let go of everything. Welcome sweet oblivion.

For no matter what’s occurred – it is gone; it’s in the past.

Tomorrow isn’t here. We don’t know what that will bring.

Yesterday I was pretty sure my car had been stolen from the Target parking lot near the Florida State University campus. I’d gone into the store for one item, and as most Target runs go, I ended up buying a shopping cart full of stuff.

When I finally checked out to the tune of more money than I should have spent on a random Thursday and went to load my purchases into my little Chrysler 200 my car was nowhere to be found. I knew exactly where it was supposed to be, but clearly it had been stolen.

I wandered around the parking lot for a few minutes before remembering to hit the panic button on my key fob. In vain I listened for the annoying alarm sound. I turned this way and that to no avail.

My heart dropped into my stomach. As I returned my key to my…