Ordinary Days

Hello friends! I hope your summer is going well. As I write this I’m sitting next to a snoozing puppy – a sleeping puppy is a wonderful thing. I don’t really have a lot to report. My days consist of getting up at 6, walking a lap around the neighborhood with Sam and Pokey, walking another lap by myself, doing 30 minutes of yoga, shower/dress/breakfast, 8 hours in front of the computer, a couple more laps around the block with Chris, call my mom, dinner, tv show, puppy play, repeat. I also fit some reading in here and there. And hummingbird watching. On weekends there is more puppy, more reading, more hummingbird watching, no sitting in front of the computer. 

Within this pretty ordinary structure, some less-than-ordinary events:

• A trip with Pokey to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital. We thought he had swallowed a straight (sewing) pin. Two and a half hours of waiting and three very expensive x-rays later, we learned that he did not in fact swallow a straight pin. 
• One night as I was standing in the back yard with Pokey, waiting for him to pee, he became very alert to something. I looked up to see what that something was and saw that it was a skunk walking across the top of our yard where it bordered our neighbor’s yard. To say I moved quickly to pick Pokey up and get both of us inside would be an understatement.
• A mother squirrel leading five baby squirrels across the telephone line that runs across the corner of our yard. Amazing that they are born with such balance. 
• One morning as Sam and I were walking with Pokey we saw a cat-sized animal scurrying around the street and front yards about 50 yards from us, making funny warbling noises. Turned out it was a (young, I think) raccoon. We walked in the opposite direction, less quickly than I had with the skunk but with what we called in the military a “sense of urgency.”
• I saw a pileated woodpecker fly low through our neighborhood, calling as it went. Lovely.
• One morning on my solo walk, the heavens opened up as I was about half-way around the block. There was nothing to do but to keep walking and I was very soon soaked to the skin. Now, I’m not generally one of those perky creatures who count “walking in the rain” as one of my favorite things. I’m not a big fan of getting wet. But once I couldn’t get much more wet, I found the experience exhilarating. It brought to mind days at the beach when I was young, for in what other circumstance does a person generally find themselves soaking wet outside? 
• A mother deer with two tiny fawns in our back yard, the fawns frolicking back and forth while the mother waited patiently. 
• Our “wall of daisies” has started to bloom. There are easily more than a thousand buds in various stages of bursting forth with sunny goodness.

Today is Sunday and I’m feeling delightfully snoozy myself. I might just take a wee nap. Take care, friends. See you soon.

Love,

Michelle xoxo