Up to Your Neck

Seriously?



We cats are cute, but this is beyond cuteness..... 

--Zach the Cat

First Chili

 How great it is

To share the first pot of chili this fall with a friend.

Oyster crackers,

Thin spaghetti,

Abundant citrus green tea,

And a bubbling pot

of black-bean chili

Filled us up

As we ate from multicolored bowls
And drank from mason jars
And told stories that made us think and laugh and be grateful.


As the Psalmist said: “Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”


The Lord delights in the analogy as well as the reality of the table, the meal—
and once again he was present at my table
in laughter, friendship, and hot chili

on this cool evening.

Finally


I've scrubbed

and swished

and wiped down

and put up

and straightened

and folded

and stashed

and vacuumed--

the last of which drove Zach the Cat 

from his comfortable corner on the sofa

to a hidey-hole in the house.

It's 12:04 now on Friday morning.
I'm hours away from getting up to go to work.
I really should be in bed,
and Zach really should be right next to me.

Instead I'm here at the computer and he's somewhere.

Sometimes things just have to get done

no matter sleep, the cat, or the calling of the sofa.

The place is cleaner for sure. Finally.

72

I can't hardly stand
Being inside
When it's sunny

and 72 degrees
in February.
Really!?

Home from work,
I threw off the old
And put on the older--
Grubby clothes,
a hair band,
hole-ly gloves,
and I'm ready
to play in the sun
alongside my cat.

The back yard
is now clean
and I am dirty.
As the sun eased below the horizon
Coloring the sky with pink, yellow, and baby blue,
The birds chattered and sang, calling it a day.

                                                                   Me too.

I sing for joy over
a sunny day,
a yard that's raked,
some hours "playing" outside,
and 72 in February.

What a gift.
Thank You.