Right now is a reasonable time to have Fear of Missing Out. 

I'm in the city where the Democratic Party just appointed its first female presidential candidate. Today hundreds of people turned away representatives of the Westboro Baptist Church from an LGBT clinic with music and colors and love, and turned the protest into a block party.  There is a ton of dissent, and that's the magic of democracy.  

Last night I stayed up till midnight, glued to a screen, watching the DNC speeches.   Today I regretted not getting enough sleep. I spent the day shackled to a screen, watching training videos for work. I was shoving the pointy ends of paper clips into my fingers to keep from falling asleep. There are so many better, more beautiful things I could have done with my day. At least I'm (technically) helping people. 

Screens aren't helping me. 

When I got home, I decided that 92 degrees was as reasonable as the weather would get before dark, and took Squeaky for a short walk (about a mile).  We outran a door to door salesgirl who was working the block (I'm perfectly happy with my energy supplier, thanks!) and went once around the local park.  The playground has a baby elephant fountain, that blasts water into the air from its trunk on hot days. Squeaky and I went over to cool off. She didn't like the shower itself, but liked being cooler, and chased the droplets splashing in the puddles. 

An African-American toddler boy was playing in the shower. The evening sun silhouetted him and turned the droplets gold. I wanted to take a picture, but I don't think it's right to take pictures of people without their permission.  He loved Squeaky. She looked at him and sniffed, and he held out his hands to her and laughed. But, he was a little shy, and Squeaky was tired.  The boy's dad and I smiled at each other. It was hot and time to go home. 

So, maybe I'm not missing out, I just need to minimize screen time. 

This is a sculpture from Roosevelt Playground in Mayfair. It's about 7 or 8 feet up on a pedestal, and I just found out that it's called The Dove Of Peace.