Each evening I take the rubbish out. I would do it in Garland too and on walking in our driveway to the trash cans I would think,
“I’ve done this very night for x number of years,” I’d look up at the sky and see the moon, stars, clouds, a dull orange glow from the lamp post and think, ‘how many more years am I going to be doing this?’
I’m still doing it only not in the same place. I have to walk across the lawn which I share with a pair of foxes, a pair of magpies, a pair of wood pigeons and multiple pairs of squirrels. Security lights come on to light my way to the top of the hill and around to the first set of garages. Another light comes on, I must irritate the neighbours leaving my flat so late in the evening causing light to flood the dark lawns. I think to myself, ‘I leave it later and later…’ But I noticed it was only 9 pm tonight.
I came back inside,
“It’s 9 o’clock and dark already,” I said to my hubs and daughter sitting on the sofa.
“Yes I’ve noticed that it’s not really bright light at 545am when I go to work.” said my barista daughter.
The days are getting shorter. The days are getting colder. Summer is over say the bearers of bad weather news. Who believes the weatherman anyway?
After I have taken the rubbish to the bins, duly separated it into paper, plastic, glass, like that game children play, I make a trip to the compost heap.
This is where the foxes have their den, or at least where I see them disappear every evening when they come home from work. I enter their territory singing,
“Hey, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy.” and hurl my fruit and vegetable pairings, my coffee grounds and tea bags into the dark unknown.
How many more years am I going to be doing this?
I thought about it this evening. I am the habitual rubbish taker-outer. I take any opportunity to be outside. The task is the same but I am somewhere new. I look up at the sky in my shared garden and see clouds, no stars, no moon, no dull orange glow from the lamp post, not tonight, not here, but the air is crisp and fresh.
Is it crisp and fresh in Garland?
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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2011-08-17 23:54:31
No, it is not crisp and fresh in Garland…it is hot and we need rain! Miss you!
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