Fantasizing.

I've often said one of the best things about being a writer is some of the interesting and unique environments and people I see every day ... and fantasizing about what it would be like to actually be in their shoes.

So today, after getting in my office by a quarter to seven, cranking out a health story for tomorrow about Seasonal Affective Disorder and feasting on a couple pieces of coffee cake, I went for my noon lunch appointment at the hospital with a source whose overseeing a new music therapy program. ... When we finally connected (cell phones are a marvelous invention!) we grabbed a couple sandwiches (I had tuna) and ate in the hospital cafeteria.

I proceeded to learn all the ins and outs of this new wave of music therapy and the impact it can have on patients, and how, in its soothing tones, it takes patients away from their pain to a more peaceful and relaxing place, and ultimately helps them heal faster. As many interviews are, it was an eye-opener to yet another marvel of this world and the lives we live.

Beyond that though, it was more the hospital itself that captivated me. I mean, I've been in hospitals and interviewed docs and nurses before. Maybe it was the fact it was a Monday morning -- you know, the morning after 'Grey's Anatomy'. Maybe it was the fact I was feeling distinct today in my beige corduroys, turtleneck sweater and heavy black jacket.

But I couldn't ignore the buzz of all the doctors in white lab coats and nurses in blue scrubs going about their daily routines, and eating among us in the hospital cafeteria. And then walking out of the hospital with my white foam cup (it was water, but I liked to think it looked like coffee), down the hospital corridor and through the skylit atrium.

It sure felt a lot like Seattle Grace. Or maybe I was just wishing it did.

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