I was dancing and twirling in my new ballet dress when the Littlest Dutch Boy called to say he wanted me to help him with something.  Delighted to be asked, I said just tell me what I can do.  It's not all that often that anyone asks me to help them with something so I was excited.  He said he was suffering from an early summer malaise (that's French and may not have been the word he used but I wanted him to sound more cosmopolitan).  First of all, I told him, it is actually late spring, not early summer.  (I don't think that helped at all on the off chance that part of his problem was yesterday's temperature of 108 degrees.  And it's not even summer, you say!)  Why me, I asked?  He said it was because I had recently changed my blog to the summer schedule and would now have the time to help him.  Hold on a minute, he said.  If it's still late spring, why do you get to start your reduced summer blog schedule anyway?   Oh, brother.  It is hard to get anything past the Littlest Dutch Boy.  I guess one bear's happiness is another man's funk.  Now what am I gonna do?  How will I help him?  

I have a theory that if you can just feel a little tiny piece of joy or excitement or upbeatness, then it can open the door to the memory of when you felt like that more often.  So I figured that we should find ways to make the Littlest Dutch Boy happy mechanically, so to speak.  From the outside in, rather than the other way around.  My first thought was a big ice cream cone with sprinkles (which also helps with the heat thing).  But then I said, no, it has to be a frozen yogurt in a waffle cone.  Yes, that will do it.  But there is a good chance that as soon as he takes the last lick (and realizes he ate way too much but is glad he ate it all anyway), he will slide right back down to his blueness.  So it is going to take more than food.  (Well, actually, a big carb binge at Filiberto's might help even more but he would pay for that later so it's too risky.  We better pass on that one.) 

How about a great movie in a cold theatre with popcorn and a big Sprite with lots of ice?  In the middle of a work day, like playing hooky?  That would work if there was such a movie.  Nah, that won't work.

I know.  A girl.  Really pretty and sweet but independent and smart.  Old fashioned values but not too simple.  Really close to her mom with an appropriately protective father.  Comes from money, wants to make at least as much on her own but doesn't mind enjoying theirs in the meantime.  Knows how to drive a stick.  Works out and doesn't drink too much.  Doesn't have a racy history but not too naive.  Would make a great mother.  Oh my gosh.  If Pete stays in his malaise while we look for this girl, we'll never get him out.  That is more a long term strategy.  We need something more immediate.

How about something fun to do?  A trip to Vegas or a drive to the Grand Canyon to go fly fishing or hiking?  Or the beach?  A day at the beach always settles him right down.  But then you have to take the time off and find a place to stay and figure out how to get there and it costs money and takes time to plan.  Not quite long term but not immediate enough.

Here is my advice.  Wake up and hug that big lug of a dog and be glad he is still around and can communicate with you by just looking into your eyes.  Eat a big breakfast featuring carbs galore, maybe a bagel with lots of cream cheese (go out for heaven's sake because I know you don't have a thing in your refrigerator).  Drive your nice car a little too aggressively over to the office and talk to everyone there and see how they are doing even though you don't have to be there.  Do this before they have a crisis for you to handle.  It will have more the desired effect.  Ask a friend to have lunch with you, preferably a girl friend, and talk about silly things and laugh a lot.  Pick up the check rather than splitting it.  Go to the gym and work out.  The exercise will cheer you up.  Visit your brother and if you are lucky, he will feed you chef food, far better than the ordinary.  Play with his dogs, Mr. Pants and Lola.  They are a hoot, those two.  Go home and look at some of the beautiful photographs you have taken in your short career.  Remember when you took them and how excited you were when you saw them for the first time.  Think of how many more you will take in your lifetime.  Later in the evening, when it is dark and quiet and the crescent moon is hung overhead, lay on your back in your pool and listen to yourself breathing.  Sit at the bottom the way you like to do for as long as you can, then push up hard and bust through the surface.  Do it again.  Watch your favorite tv programs on the DVR, click off the remote and close your eyes.  Not a bad day, all around.  

When asked about his bad boy behavior, Bill Clinton (of all people) recently said that we all have a good side and a darker side.   Sometimes we wake up in the grips of the darker side which can cause us to think, feel and behave in ways we wouldn't want and don't like.  The trick to life, he said, is to find a balance, understanding that there will be days when you thrive in your own light and others when it's so dark you can't find your way out.  It's normal.  It will pass.  Just remember what the light feels like.  And you will be drawn to it.  

GR