I’m sitting in a dark, quiet room in a comfy chair, with a purring cat on my lap. I wish I could stay here a little longer. But it’s only a temporary stop. I’ve taken too long here already. Was just supposed to get mail, feed and scoop after cats and go, but I’m running on empty. Everyone’s been home on spring break all week. I’m tapped out. Zapped out. Needing a fill up with some quiet time and space. Kitty cuddles help too. I like this lap warming cat a lot more than the yelling, mad, hungry wisp of old gray cat that met me at the door. I think she was running on E too, needing some cuddles right back. Ah, much better. I should be able to face the noise, chaos and commotion that one man, two boys, a six month old puppy and mad about the dog cat fill a house with. My house. I’ll be walking in the door in five minutes…once I get up from this chair that is. ~ Janean
dog
Happy 1st Birthday, Turquoise Tangles!
dog tired
Is it a bad sign when it’s not yet 9:00a.m., there is still coffee in the pot, and more than anything you just want to go back to bed? I figure it is too early in the day to call it a nap. Puppy was up at 2:30a.m., sometime between 4 and 5, and again at 6:30a.m. That’s when I got up, planning to stay up for the whole entire day. The previous times I took him out, then back in, took him out and fed him and back in… In between I kept rekenneling him and going back to bed. I must have slept. Each time I was there long enough to have crazy dreams before being awoken sooner than I wanted to be from the dog sounds coming through the puppy monitor. For the record, there was a thirty minute walk in there too. Alas, no back to bedding, no napping. Not for me anyway. That dog?! He’s sawing logs, happily curled up in the family room, where the TV is blaring a dog themed show, and the rest of the family is done with breakfast. It’s Spring Break here. Day 4 of No School. Woof.
under the maple tree
the biggest tree in my backyard
sittin’ here on a Sunday mornin’
just me and my big Blue dog
we’ve been up since five
goin’ in and out of the house
and ‘round the block
on a pajama clad walk
coffee’s long gone
tryin’ to kept him quiet
while the rest of my family sleeps
even that cat
so here I sit
under the maple tree
in a quiet backyard
except for bird sound
and an occasional woof
shhhhh
people are sleeping
their windows are open
yet here we sit
two awake beings
under the maple tree
on a Sunday morn
time to go in
again
wearing sandals
toe nails painted blue
greenest of grass
dog named Blue
guarding yard
from robin invasion
Friday afternoon
Spring break has begun
gray clouds gather
a few raindrops fall
there is a storm rolling in
blackbirds chirping
flocking in treetops
warning the dog and woman
in the yard below
maple tree flowering
redbud budding
burr oak tree barely leafing
old nest from last season
still resting in high up branches
breeze is cooler
blowing faster
chimes chime louder
there is a storm rolling in
it’s going to cut loose
soon
And as if I weren’t tired enough, next thing I know the dog takes off through the backyard after something. A robin most likely. Because he’d chewed through the damn leash. Again. Second one. There won’t be a third. At least not this same brand. Grrrrrrr. That’d be me. Not the dog. He says, “Woof! Woof! Woof!” I’m the only one growling tonight.
breakfast food analogy
I am toast
and not the pretty golden brown
evenly buttered kind
I’m stuck in the toaster
charred beyond recognition
crumbling burned black toast
evidently when my day starts at 4:30a.m.
by 6-something in the evening I am done
kaput
not worth much
by almost 7:30p.m. I am toast
actually those crumbs in the bottom if the toaster
I may be in bed before the children tonight
unless I fall asleep on the backyard chaise
where I have the dogs leash under a leg
to hold it in place
and I am stretched out fairly flat
my eye lids at half mast
there are dishes
clean ones to unload
pots and pans to do by hand
laundry to fold
more to move around
from one machine to another
but something’s burning
smoldering
crumbling
beyond done
crumble
crumble
ick
charred to bits
toast
the beauty of outside
is the walls hold in
the sound of the TV
and once the dog
stopped woofing
I could hear the quiet
of the night
no stars shine
a bit overcast
50% chance of rain
isn’t there always?
it either will
or it won’t
simple as that
regardless
this is the view
looking up
if you stretch out flat
atop the wooden deck
while the woofing dog
doesn’t ask questions
just lies down beside me
then shhhhhh’s too
I love being outside
even in the dark
of night
it was a be-a-u-ti-ful day today
amazingly so
we can’t quite believe the unseasonably warm,
lack of bone chilling wind,
sunshine not rain,
daffodil bloom filled days
it is only mid March
and it feels like May
amazing, remarkable, wonderful
and I’m sure not complaining
I spent the afternoon outdoors
visiting with a friend
she is also my husband’s sister
bonus
the dogs were there too
hers and mine
they ran free
no leashes needed at the farm
we lay in the grass
sat up some too
walked when needed
sometimes in sun
sometimes in shade
always under the blue sky above
with white puffy clouds
the happy kind
and air warm enough
we were just in shirt sleeves
everyone is going to sleep well tonight
yes, it was a be-a-u-ti-ful day
Turquoise Tangles 