Friday, April 14, 2006

home sings me of sweet of things

with apologies to Karla Bonoff. Last night was picture perfect. Beautiful blue skies. Crisp clear light. Wonderfully deliciously warm. My husband and I walked to a local restaurant for dinner. It still amazes me that I can walk from my home to a restaurant meal. We had a delightful Vietnamese dinner and then went for a walk around the block before going home. We ran into some friends from the neighborhood and stopped to chat for a bit, before continuing home.

Once we got home, and checked that our son had not burned down the house while making his supper [yes, he decided to stay home and make his OWN dinner!!!], I sat for an hour or so on the front porch and read the newspaper while soaking up some early evening sun. The breeze would shift, and I would smell lilacs from my neighbors yard. Then it would shift again, and I was treated to the smell of new mown grass. The birds were singing, and for a brief while, everything in the universe was perfect.

This morning, my husband called me out to the back porch at 6am. I am NOT a morning person, but I am so so glad I made the exception this morning. We were treated to an amazing nature show, right in our back yard. A fox was ambling through our back yard. We watched her for a few minutes, and then I went to wake up our son. I told him he had missed a fox, and he was pretty disappointed.

I went out onto the porch a few minutes later, and the fox was back. This time we ALL got to see her, as she hunted and killed a squirrel. Eventually she carried it off, out of our yard. But a little later she was back. She curled up under one of our trees and proceeded to groom herself, roll around on her back in our grass, and generally relax. Amazing!

I really didn't expect to love living in the city so much. And I never expected the diversity of experience, from the sophisticated to the wild, that make it our home.

No comments: