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Final Sunday of October
Jinx, once the solitary rambler who ranged over the acres surrounding our little farm, now rarely goes outside by himself. When Bluebelle wants out, he’s always up to accompany her, or when Mrs. Orr and/or I open the back door, Jinx is quick to push past us and run out, tail slashing and head on a swivel, looking to challenge all comers. But open the door and beckon him to come out while Bluebelle is sleeping or otherwise occupied, and he will offer a quizzical glance and walk away. Perhaps he finds meaning in his life to be attached to companionship. And so this morning I was puzzled but pleased…
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Warm Fades
Today was one of those October days that seemed ordered from a catalog, ticking off the options: electric blue sky…flaming riot of leaves falling and swirling in the wind….mild, warm breeze…long stretches of silence split only by birdsong. We ate brunch at a new place one town over, recently opened by a retired firefighter and his family. Just after they opened, one of their sons died tragically, and they had to close up for a while. Since they have reopened, we decided to give them a try today. It’s a little cafe’, clean and nicely decorated in a firehouse motif. Nothing fancy. We heard our waitress talking to a patron…
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Paw
He was not my kin, but perhaps someday I will find that he was, after all, one of my people. My only connection to him is long gone from my life, an ill-fated romance birthed in high school. But she introduced me to Paw, and so I am somewhat indebted to her for bringing me into his eccentric and loveable orbit. Paw was what we used to call a coon-ass, born and bred down in Louisiana’s swamp country, that murky and mystical patch of America with its legends and lore, its distinctive patois and food all a part of the myths of the Cajun people. He and his wife, Granny,…
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One Day More
Another electric color day in these mountains. The month is half over, which means the scenery will soon diminish and dull itself. But for now, it is a boon to the soul. I did a bit of spray painting when I got home this evening. Didn’t seem like that big of a deal. But then I walked into the bathroom and saw myself in the mirror. I think I screamed. Cirque du Face. Tragic, tragic times. Did you know that errant spray paint can affect the little hairs inside one’s nostrils? *** When Jinx and I walked this evening, the bats were thick in the air over us, swooping and…
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Gate Of Heaven
I worked from home today, an experience which was not as peaceful as I had anticipated. But I enjoyed the solitude very much, and in spite of my many mistakes and blind alleys, I had a productive day. It was also nice to be able to take the dogs outside and stretch my legs whenever I wanted. While wearing a t-shirt and shorts. And snacking on pork skins. In bare feet. With Jackie Gleason playing the background. How many of you know who Jackie Gleason was? Many have watched the old “The Honeymooners” sitcom on television. Some of you likely have seen Gleason’s masterful performance as Minnesota Fats in the…
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Count, O Man
The morning light was odd, just a bit more muted than usual, the greens and silvers magnified, the air still and mostly dampened except for a lone Carolina wren with her martial piping from the fence. Jinx slept under the car last night, no doubt enjoying the soft breeze and lack of rain. The frogs were hopping all about when I went outside with Dixee. They always make me jump when I am still soggy with sleep, their sudden motion so low to the ground awakening some ancient fear of things that hop and slither and coil, the things that are blinkless and slick-skinned. Leaving the farm for the day,…
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Purpose
I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop. — Psalm 102:7 (Douay-Rheims Version) Last night at twilight, a large woodpecker lighted on the utility pole in the back yard. He made a few desultory taps on the treated wood, then scurried to the top and sat there, looking around, his magnificent head a flash of color in the ebbing light of a day that was on the edge of slipping into the past forever. The bird began to sing, the sound an exotic, quasi-tropical series of notes as staccato as the ones his beak made in the weathered fibers of the pole. Ten to…
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A Season
The day has been remarkably cool and breezy, the middle of June but feeling more like early October. This morning, I stood in the parking lot at work and drank in the sight of a rainbow that seemed to stretch from one end of town to the other. The center of the bow was obscured by a charcoal-and-pink cloud that looked like the smoke from a cursed city afire. I watched the clouds and procrastinated entering my building, and I wondered what other symbols of goodness and blessing will be hijacked for unsavory causes and purposes. This past Saturday marked three months since Jinx came to live at the farm.…
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Peonies And Honeysuckle
I awoke this morning and inhaled a lungful of the sweetest, most floral air I’ve tasted in some time. The sky was lightening up in the east and the birds were already warming up for their concerto. The coffee tasted good and the floorboards were cool and smooth beneath my feet, and I wasn’t too, too achey or groany, so it was starting off to be a decent late May Wednesday. Then I made the mistake of checking the local news. The governor of my state has issued a mandate that all of his cattle must henceforth. wear a face mask while in public. My own voice blended with the…
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And So It Begins
And just like that, the weather turned warm, the faeries beneath the earth’s crust pushed their backs against the grass and weeds, the greenery sprung up, the winged insects flew sorties off the decks of their craft, the world became filled with song, and here it is again, time to cut the grass. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to start this half-a-year activity. Seventy-two degrees, breezy, titanium-white clouds courtesy of Bob Ross, a stare-worthy sky of most regal blue. The morning wasn’t even halfway over when I looked outside my window at work and decided that today would be the day. Once home, I prepared the mower…