I am sitting on a step at the back of an abandoned building in Palo Alto.

I am sitting on a step at the back of an abandoned building in Palo Alto. The sun shines, the sky is blue, but all I can think of is this malaise which has afflicted me for the past week. Body ache, throat ache, headache - it reduces the pleasure of living. Writing about it seems to help.

Today, for me, is a rare pause in the busy-ness of living. The cool air sweeps over my painful temples. Today reminds me of university days - sunny weather, freedom from serious responsibility. Those days are long past.

For the first time in several days, I listen to my environment. The crinkle of an aircraft engine fades to silence. Amazonian bird noises twitter in the foliage. A painful cough escapes me; pressure builds in my brow. I hear scraping door and tableware noises in the neighbouring lot. And the rise and fall of a police siren, and the pneumatic rise of the ventilation system of the Wells Fargo building.

25 minutes before the Latin mass at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Palo Alto.

An obese squirrel clambers up a fence and peeks over it. The strange pressure builds in my sinuses again. The sunlight dims, then surges. Another airplane crosses the sky, on the same path as the first. The blustery Wells Fargo ventilator flusters the foliage. Three brown beer bottles and two green ones sit on a window sill - this does remind me of university days. Those days are long past.

17 minutes before the Latin mass at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Palo Alto.

I move from the shade into the sunlight. I sit cross-legged on the parking-lot pavement. Sitting in the sunlight with a cool breeze - how pleasant! Tapping the pavement with my PDA stylus makes pleasant metallic noises.

7 minutes before the Latin mass at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Palo Alto.

Commovisti Domine terram, et conturbasti eam - Thou hast moved the earth, O Lord, and hast troubled it.