Old Friends and Rainy Weather

It's rained all week. And Gray had a week off work scheduled. So we were all bound inside this little home... which, at times, seemed as if it was bulging at the seams. I am one of those people who starts sneezing the moment I remember I haven't dusted for a week. Whether the dust mattered before I remembered, means a hill of beans of difference. Because of all the people in the house, there weren't too many dusting moments.

It's not just Gray and I anymore...it's Scott, Leanne, Lucky and Nate. The dogs love Scott, leaping about with no thought to the hair that they are shedding in buckets, or the dander and dirt that find their way to the most inconspicuous cracks in this house. Scott has matured...he doesn't excite the dogs in the house half as much as he used to as a teenager. But the dogs still remember the hi-jinks that used to occur, every time Scott was around.

And so the hair flies...and the mud, from the outdoors where it has rained torrentially, for what seems a long time. But today, I am alone, a state of being I really need. I was severely out of balance...in fact, I was really crabby! But today will be a good day...all the signs are there.

Everybody else is gone...Graham writing an exam, Scott working and Leanne working. The dogs are outside sniffing at the shrubbery with hysterical elation... Sun is out, you see. There isn't a cloud in the sky. And Wind has decided to stop screaming with rage. It will finally, finally be a warm day.

This morning when I sat on my stoop I watched Crow fly over, and dip his wings! I have never seen such an amazing thing. My heart literally swelled with awe and gratitude. As I sat there, thinking about Crow and what my old friend meant to me, Seagull swept low over my perch, bringing me news of the sea. And then, Crow sat on the fence, and began to speak...to me and to the dogs. It never ceases to floor me when the dogs sit attentively when Crow speaks. His energy signature is very easy to see and feel. I laughed out loud in sheer delight...and I knew the day would be wonderful.

And then my old friend Jerr called, from the Columbia River Gorge. He say's the weather there has been sunny and relatively warm the past week; and today Wind and Rain are battering the area. I sent him my condolences...Jerr takes people out on kayaking tours (jerr86@ hotmail.com) and the weather would really impact on any activity in that area. But Jerr is great at acceptance...rarely does he let anything as uncontrollable as the weather get him down. Just talking to him balanced me even more...a few joking comments with him and smiles got the better of me.

I also had a therapy session this week, and Sherri tells me I must build the muscul- ature I lost during the last year. So the plan is to get the bicycle out of the garden shed and do some repair work. The only kind of bicycle I can really ride is the one where the brake is on the pedal; this bike I have now is not like that...the brakes are on the handle bar...I tend to forget that. It could make for an interesting few days of learning. But Graham is an experienced biker...both on his motorcycle and his street bike. So, with Margaret's words ringing in my ears..."Better get at it then" and knowing Gray is very like his mother...I am sure I will be riding that bike like a pro in no time.

Well...at least it's sunny!

For the rest of the day, I am going to do what I love to do...write, and then clear the house. I will open all the windows to catch the words of Wind. I plan to put all the house plants in a sheltered spot in the garden to acclimatize themselves to the outdoors. I will wash muddy floor rugs. I will walk and weed and meditate in the garden. I will harvest chives and parsley and rosemary and thyme.

And then, when everybody returns from the day's events, I will be ready, more willing to hear the stories of the workday world, my crabbiness gone. Sun and old friends will have banished the grey, wet, dreary days and the resultant moods as if they had never happened.

If I remembered to take time for myself, in the midst of a crowd, I could balance myself...but today, I am grateful for Sun and Old Friends.