THESE ARE THE DAYS

Tuesday evening.
A bulldog is snoring by my side.

We walked today in a fish hatchery which is rapidly refilling with water after a long winter.
The geese and ducks are in residence – have not seen any herons yet – but they will come.

We walked for ca. half an hour. Sophie does not walk long or fast. But she loves the whole event.

Dear Wife continues to make new memories with Dear Cousin and her family in Florida and will be doing so for another week.

A new humidor is humidifying on the side table, a birthday present. A birthday gift from Dear Wife who sensed that the Ole Fella was thinking more and more of the days of his youth.

Funny how attitudes can change toward birthdays.

I remember well how I could not wait for the next one to roll around. It was a commonplace that I was ‘born old’ and I didn’t mind the joke at all.

Well, in the same way that John Wayne, in some early films, such as She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, had to be made to look older and later didn’t require any makeup, this Ole Fella now not only is starting to look the part – but is well on the way.

And the birth anniversaries seem to be arriving a lot more quickly.

And I am thinking a lot about how things used to be. About all the questions that lay ahead, all the unknowns.

Now I don’t have to worry about thirty year mortgages. No more saving for college for the kids.
Actually, we are putting a little away for the Grandkids, now that I think of it.

But no more thinking of another advanced degree.
Well, not as often anyway.

And other thoughts like those. Every once in a while they flood in.
As, we’re not the youngest people at the Elks anymore.
And middle aged polite men call me sir and hold the door open for me, as often as not.

And then, right when such thoughts as these are crowding the current doings of the day, the phone rings and a Dear Daughter calls up and says come on over for dinner or lets go out to the bookstore or lets take the dogs for a walk.
Or maybe a Dear Granddaughter calls up and says she will be looking for me after school to take her to piano lessons.
Or Dear Son meets me at the Elks for a hamburger and a drink and two hours of fellowship.
Or even our kids’ in-laws invite us over or out or to go wherever.

And then Dear Wife calls from Florida to ask how I am and what I’m doing and to share her day.

And then balance returns.
Perspective returns.

And then the counting of blessings can and does begin.

And then the prayer, “These are the days The Lord hast made….”