Early Morning

I woke up at 5 AM (7 EDT) today. Not unusual, but I do try to go back to sleep most mornings. It is silent here this early; the turkeys are strolling down the road from my backyard, getting bigger every week. But no twittering birds are awake in the maples and cottonwoods; the stillness is amazing. The glow in the east is slightly golden, reflecting off the white houses, giving everything that almost orange, softly lit incandescence, almost as if they were lit from within..

There are things to do as always, and it being Sunday makes little difference. There is the chicken buffet at the Hub to consider on Sundays; 11 til 2; those hours are the only change in their weekly service schedule. Will we be done with our morning tasks in time, or will we forget and work straight through? My schedule is work and work and work; all getting the house and the yard ready for winter. A gentle reminder yesterday morning was the 44 degree temperature; snow and cold are on their way. Must get the compost pile built, must get the painting finished, must get the wood stacked by size for the stove. Then must do all the regular housework; the cleaning, the laundry; fitting in the daily demands with the future ones. The sky now is dark at 8:30; just last month the sky was light until after 9 PM. It will be 92 here on Tuesday again, and in the 80s today and tomorrow. But life here depends on the weather. The sunflowers that no one thought would bloom in time are blooming. The board fence out front that I painted white with red roses on the fenceposts are causing cars to slow, and neighbors to stop us and congratulate us on our progression. But all it is to me is another task on the list completed. The list gets no shorter; as things are completed, others are added. I go to bed tired every night.

But it is a good tired. Abby, the beagle from next door came over and made friends at last. She had a massive stroke when she was a pup, and now her gait is awkward and her mind is still a puppy's. No one has time for Abby; she cannot be an inside dog because she cannot be house trained. But she is sweet and affectionate when you give her a chance. She has been trying to gather the courage for three months to come under the fence and see us. Yesterday she stood right behind me as I worked, barking quietly at me. So I laid down flat in the grass to show her I was not a threat. She and I became fast friends, her dancing around me as I worked, trailing me back and forth - and this morning she wandered onto the porch, looking for me.

Yes, even with all the things I have to do, I am doing them for myself now, no one else. No more people call looking to be saved from themselves and their blind, selfish, and stupid choices. No more sirens blaring. No more screaming people insisting that THEIR agenda is the most important, how dare I listen to anyone else? No more daily reports of this or that person doing this or that with some evil agenda. No more phony church gatherings where the agendas are evident in the cliques; where God is nowhere in evidence.

It feels good to wake up in the silence of pre-dawn every morning, and listen to the world around me begin its day. A few sleepy twitters and the birds are awake, the sun is up, and the dogs dance to be let out to chase and threaten the bunnies from the ends of their leashes.

Think I'll make some blueberry pancakes this morning.