Greeting the Day

Painfully I reach over to shut off the alarm, my muscles sore from my workout at the gym yesterday.  I take a deep breath and coax my stiff body into a sitting position.  I’m not sure if my regular workouts are helping or worsening the arthritis in my joints.  No one ever told me that getting old would hurt so much.

I slide my feet into my slippers and shuffle off to the kitchen lured by the scent of coffee.  As I enter my favorite room, the heart of the house, I forget my aches and pains.  The gentle rays of the early morning sun streaming through the windows light up the sunflowers that dance across the golden wallpaper.  The clock on the wall softly ticks, counting the minutes until the chimes sound the hour.  One by one, my three cats glide into the room, their paws silent on the linoleum floor.

The harsh squawk of a blue jay draws me to the window.  I push the white curtains aside to get a better view.  He’s sitting in his accustomed spot in the lilac bush scolding two gray squirrels who are playing a game of tag in the oak tree by my driveway.  A woodpecker ignores them as he feasts on the peanuts in the feeder.  Sparrows are lined up along the top of the fence, waiting their turn at the other feeder while the mourning doves peck at the seeds that have fallen to the ground underneath.  I move to another window to see what’s happening in the birdbath.  A robin is performing his morning ablutions, the splashing water falling like jewels on to the ferns growing beneath.

The cats are milling around my feet, impatient for their breakfast.  I lean down and scoop kibble into their bowls.  Some of it spills as they eagerly thrust their furry heads in.  I smile as I refill their water bowl.  From the way that they are wolfing down their food, you would think that they hadn’t eaten in a week.

The coffeemaker has stopped its gurgling.  The pot is full and it’s time to think about my own breakfast.  First though I get out my favorite mug, the one with the rainbow on it, and fill it with coffee.  As I sip the warm brew, I savor this special moment when the day is quiet and new and full of possibilities.

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