Trash Day
Today, Wednesday, is trash day so Jean Claude and Roxie usually spend a short time outside. They don’t like the noise from the trash trucks. Well truth is Roxie doesn’t like loud noises of any kind. Jean Claude had some intense discussions with birds before moving to a spot under my porch. I shut and locked the back porch door and forgot him for a bit. He stood at the door, crying loudly. I opened the door and he ran in and went straight to his food bowl.
I recently pitched my Page -A-Day calendar. This particular one was supposed to encourage busy women to live balanced lives. Instead it seemed to dose out reminders about how unhappy I (or busy women) should be with my (their) choices. Daily it carried admonishments about what I was (women were) doing wrong and how the way I (we) lived was depressing and overwhelming. (Even a female four-star general didn’t escape the invalidation of the calendar writer. The general was criticized for not having enough militant feminism in the way she acknowledged her family during a speech about her career). It’s the third calendar that I’ve trashed this year. As someone in the message business with an intense job, I want daily messages that fill my soul and inspire me. Tomorrow, a page-a-day calendar decorated with flowers is scheduled to arrive. Flowers are silent but beautiful reminders that spring is here. It was a lovely spring day today. Jean Claude and Roxie spent time outside while I sat in my big wicker chair trying to gain back spiritual sanity – lost because I let the shoulds get to me over my daughter’s decision to go to her business destination a day early. My mind went wild with “I should be doing so and so or I should be doing this…and of course I should remember that if people have plans that don’t include me they don’t want me (a horrible selfish should).” ” The Shoulds” should be listed as diseases for the agony and misunderstanding they cause.
Gradually I found peace again by remembering to let those I love be who they are, just as a great power does that for us all on a daily, hourly basis. So now I am celebrating the peace of this particular day and the miracle it holds for me and hundreds of millions of people.
Just stopped writing for a moment…thinking.. “I should check on Jean Claude, he’s still outside.” Roxie came in a while ago.” Sure enough Jean Claude is outside resting comfortably under the big beautiful tree that is in MY backyard.
Jean Claude got an early start today. I went to cut back rose bushes damaged by the storm. He came outside to help a bit and observe. He also helped me move more outdoor furniture out of the garage. Roxie went out for a bit as well. She did have a brief conversation with a squirrel this morning. I left for a short time to “go play” for a good cause – Heart for Haiti. A friend had arranged for an aerobathon at a nearby Gold’s gym. Great fun, fabulous classes. After the event I stopped at the Target and bought just two things not my usual 17+ items. Cats seemed to be more disciplined about their purchase habits than humans. Jean Claude has his chair and his furry stick. Roxie prefers her laser toy and her spot on top of my bed throw. There are a lot of layers to that kind of simplicity – things we as humans must work hard to achieve.
There is a white chair in the front room in my house upstairs I cover when Roxie and Jean Claude come to stay. Roxie’s has found under the purple cover to be one of favorite hiding places – but only if I’m in the room watching television or reading. A small act of defiance Ifeel. But I notice that Jean Claude seems to find rather unique hiding places , under the bathtub or under the corner of my bed.
There was a time when Jean Claude would go outside and I would give chase only to find him nowhere in sight. Once he in the back yard under my neighbor’s car – that neighbor has a dog. These days I’m happy to let him out in the back yard. I no longer look for him. He comes back when he’s ready.
Life is a lot like that. It’s when we just let go and leave things alone and find peace with our decisions that miracles begin to happen.
Funny, just last week it was spring…and now it’s …sprinter?? I have to go outside and spray the garden today. Thought I’d do it today while I don’t have any “help.” Jean Claude and Roxie are still with their mom. I’ve got some home made tomato sauce simmering for some eggplant I’ll roast later in the week. But today, Sunday, it’s meat day in my last “meatless” week before Lent is over. I plan to cook chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese, basil and cranberries. (My variation on a Barefoot Contessa Ida Garten recipe) and of course some whipped mashed potatoes.
Cats & All That ™ 