In small ways, autumn is making its’ presence known.  Mornings are cool and dimly lit.  Nightfall comes earlier, ending days of fog and mist.  Rain has been a constant threat and shows up often.  A pumpkin now sits where the irises bloomed and chrysanthemums grace the old porch.  A  soft, little light shines through the mist like a cheerful greeting and it does my heart good to see it .

A stillness has settled on the rabbit patch the last few days.  The trees seem so solemn when there is not even the slightest breeze.  The morning fog has no hurry about it, but hangs about in the air like a spell .  Mist is a quiet affair and lends an air of enchantment to bare fields and old barns.  . . and pumpkins.

  In September, I bring ageratum flowers in the old farmhouse.  They are small periwinkle colors and pair well with the bright yellow swamp flowers.  I take inventory of all the blankets and quilts too.  I take note of the woodpile-this year it is lacking and I must attend to that.  The garden is officially over in September-and the roses have slowed down too.  

Years ago, I was in an antique store and spotted some china with a dainty fall pattern.  I have a weakness for such things and so upon further inspection, I saw it was a partial set and moved along.  Weeks later, I was in the same store and once again admired them.  The owner is a friend of mine and she said I ought to get them as I liked them-and at a great price.  I told her it was a partial set and I couldn’t use it.  She laughed and told me it was a dessert set.  I left without them anyway.  At some point, I was reading Better Homes & Gardens, and there was an article on dessert sets, popular in the fifties.  Apparently, when a woman got a notion to make a cake, she would call her friends and serve it on pretty little china plates with coffee in pretty little china cups in those days.

I thought about this custom and knew I was meant for it.  I imagined how many problems were solved at these gatherings.  I bet advice was traded on everything from sewing to gardening-from cooking to soothing a fussy baby. Modern times hardly allow such occasions without a  lot of commotion to arrange it.  I got the set anyway and am happy to say I use it-in the autumn.  Twice, on a whim, it worked out, that I just decided to make a cake and called some friends, who were glad I did. It is a lovely setting and complete after all.

September, with its’ rain and fog is all but over, yet it does not leave me empty handed, but instead with lasting parting gifts.  In September, my thoughts turn to home and hearth. In the kitchen, the lowly ageratum that grows on ditch banks and all over the rabbit patch too, becomes a centerpiece. . . and the porch has flowers, a pumpkin and a little light that shines through the mist. September is a lovely time at the rabbit patch-and my heart is grateful for it.

 

Yesterday was the kind of day I want to always remember.  It was the best of times.  I did not win the lottery nor was bestowed any title of honor-those would have been lesser deeds in my moments.  I left the old house on the rabbit patch in an old car.  I came back the same way to the same place-yet I knew for certain, that I was wealthy, yesterday, and that my life far exceeds what “the world” deems successful.  

Jenny was in a wedding yesterday, so Lyla and I stayed at my parent’s house for several hours, til the newlyweds were officially married and had danced for a long while afterwards.  Meanwhile, I was attending an event, that I realised soon enough, was every bit a celebration and every bit as sacred as the one, Jenny was attending.

Mama had Lyla in a wagon, when I got there.  It was sweet sight to come across and it just made me happy.  I am older now and know little for certain, but a great grandmother pulling a wagon with her grand daughter’s child in it, is a thing of beauty.

Daddy was outside in a few minutes of my arrival looking under the hood of my car.  He checked everything and declared the car a safe way to get around, after all.  Daddy is eighty one years old and I am in my late fifties, and that did not matter.

 In less than fifteen minutes,  I had seen authentic and everlasting love in my parents and their “ordinary” ways.  

Lyla walked around the yard and examined pine straw very carefully-she did the same with leaves.  I did not rush her thoroughness, but instead joined in and saw that pine straw actually shines in sunlight. We watched a hive of honeybees at a safe distance.  They were working frantically, as they know it is autumn, too.  There was a quite a bit of activity.  Lyla watched a while intently-and so I did too.  I marveled that the whole affair was so well orchestrated.  Humans would have surely been pushing and shoving one another -but the bees worked  efficiently towards their purpose of “the greater good for all” and I took note of that.

After supper, I found  mama and Lyla on a bed.  Lyla was jumping as best she could and mama was laughing.  Ever so often Lyla would stop and hug mama.  Lyla was not tired after all, but was playing the way babies do and mama was laughing the way grandmothers do.  It did not seem so long ago that Jenny had done the same thing- and then again it did.

I have lived in several houses in my life.  I have worked at different jobs and driven many different cars.  My phone number has changed several times over the years.  Trends do not appeal to me and I do know that “all that glitters is not gold”.  It is the things that remain constant that I value above all else, I realise .  Authenticity does not change up, but shows up in the same familiar forms and in my life- in the same places-like the north star itself.  

I do not know what the future holds. . . but I do know what the past held.  For me, it is love, pure and simple.  It is the one thing that I have been able to depend on and it is the only thing that even matters.  

It rained on the first day of autumn at the rabbit patch.  It rained all day, as it had, for several days before.  The streets in the small town I work in, flooded and  the rabbit patch  became  full of puddles and mud.  When rain falls day after day, it seems to alter time.  One day was as gray as the one before it and there seemed to be little evidence of when the morning ended .  Afternoons became evenings and the evenings became night.  It was almost mysterious, but  in that way the days passed til now -and suddenly it is Autumn. 

The calendar marks the day of the first day of autumn, but I will be glad when the dogwoods and sweetgums declare it themselves. When the wind blows with a coolness , enough to make me wear a sweater and the path in the young woods lays before me, golden-then will it be autumn at the rabbit patch.  I will wait til woodsmoke claims the air and the pine trees yield straw- and I will know by that.

I am thankful to live where seasons change.  I love something about every one of them. I don’t know that I can love one any more or less than the others , for each has a beauty that I declare is my favorite, when I am in the midst of it.  

It is customary to decorate at the rabbit patch when a season arrives.  A few yellow chrysanthemums and a few orange pumpkins will do the porch good.  I have already hung a grapevine wreath with a scarlet ribbon and I tie ribbons on the bird feeders too, though country birds hardly ever attend one.  They are an independent lot and do not “cotton” to fancy varieties of store-bought seeds, unless it snows.  Until then, they are quite content with the french mulberry that grows wild in the woods.

Autumn time seems like a celebration of all the things before it, to me.  The trees that have fed us and given us shade, when we needed it, will dress themselves up for the occasion of autumn.  Trees in autumn are lovely things and  they can convince the most solemn of folks to feel glad for the season.  The morning fog can hold a lot of secrets, but it is no match for the brightness of golden leaves- for they show up anyway like candles in a dim room.  

It is no wonder to me that Thanksgiving is celebrated in the fall.  Everyday seems like a grand prelude that stirs gratitude in the heart til we must acknowledge the generosity of the earth itself.  Autumn is “The Church in the Wildwood” that welcomes all- no matter how you find it.

Rain has fallen the last few days at the rabbit patch-and everywhere around it.  The sidewalks end a long ways from the rabbit patch and the yard is muddy.  The floors in the old farmhouse are too.  I am about convinced that I have swept up a good acre of rabbit patch soil in the decade I have lived here.

Cash is most uncivilized on these occasions and carries on til he is thoroughly soiled.  Christopher Robin looks on with a superior attitude and takes great satisfaction at being a cat, when it rains on the rabbit patch.  

Kyle gets off work early when it rains, as he is a landscaper.  Christian plays his guitar or writes music.  Lamps light up nooks and corners of the old house making it cozy and bright- and supper is served early -when it rains.  It is no wonder that I love rain and that I do not feel gloomy as some are inclined to do. 

Today, before the the rain started falling, I had an errand that required a walk across campus.  There are several young magnolias that line the sidewalk.  Magnolias are just pretty evergreens with thick waxy leaves in September-but a mockingbird sang in one of them today, and that made all the difference.  It was as if he saw me coming and sat silently waiting for just the right moment to break in to his songs.  He sang pure and sweet-so I stopped to listen.  He mocked several birds and I forgot I was in a hurry, because of it.  I could not see him, though I looked.  He stopped rather abruptly, so I took a step away and he began a cheerful encore.  I stopped and turned toward the tree.  I listened to his early morning melody.  It was obvious to me that he was bragging a bit but,  I didn’t blame him.  He sang because he could.  He was doing what he was meant to do and on this Tuesday, I was glad he did.

When I remembered my mission,  I thanked him and then hastened my steps towards the office.  I reckon that coming across a mockingbird in a magnolia is a good thing.  I began to think about how mockingbirds acquire their remarkable ability to imitate the songs of other birds.  They must first listen-and listen well.  It is a good practice, I thought and I ought to remember the lesson from the mockingbird on a Tuesday morning.

Rain started falling on my way back to the rabbit patch.  It is falling now, still and it is way past supper.  It is the original “water music” and listening to it is the best thing I know of for a restful sleep.  

I  will say goodnight to the world from the porch tonight.  I will be glad for things like an early supper, little shining lights and a mockingbird singing in a young magnolia on a Tuesday morning-and the chance to sleep while rain is falling.

A light rain is falling on the rabbit patch today.  It was much needed and it cooled things off nicely.  Sunday dinner is over and I am at the morning table, watching it rain through the morning window.  Cash and Christopher Robin are sleeping and all feels right with the world in this moment.

I took a chance and cooked crowder peas .  My boys like everything-with the exception of crowder peas. I hardly ever have them because of that, but today , I thought mama and daddy would help me eat them-and they did, but wouldn’t agree to take any home.  When you can’t give something away, it tells you something.  I did fix cheese biscuits for mama as she especially loves them.   I came close to burning them because I was listening to Christian play guitar and got caught up in that.  Thank goodness, I smelled them and knew they were ready.   I had a raisin cake for dessert.  Daddy loves raisins-and he did take some of that home.  

The coolness of late September has slowed the grass down and the leaves are not yet a force to be reckoned with, so  of course, I write.  

 For the love of Sunday, I am happy as a lark when a day unfolds like this one.  I read a lot this morning, while I was cooking those crowder peas.  The morning was so gray and still for a long while-just the right weather to think great thoughts-and so I did.  

I did not even hear mama and daddy drive up-and neither did Cash and Christopher Robin.  They love Sunday mornings, when the house smells like all sorts of dishes and I am not showing any sign of going anywhere.  They did not budge from their favorite  place to rest-by the morning table, in front of a box fan.  Maybe they knew that nothing much can go wrong when you are napping by a fan.

We all took our places at the kitchen table and Christian listened to our stories about things that happened a long time ago.  Mama talked about her mama -and daddy told us  the unique way he shelled crowder peas when he was young.  I told them I cooked the pork chops the way grandmama did.  Mama told us about the first time she got her drivers license, then daddy told us his own story.  

A lot happens around a  kitchen table at a Sunday dinner.  I didn’t want Christian to miss one detail.  He was hearing “his own story” told.  He was hearing about his people, before him.  Well, it was as dear to me as anything.  It was  a precious time-and it seemed sacred, too.  For the love of Sunday, it was just beautiful.

Sometimes, there are idle hours at the rabbit patch-I make certain of it.  “Idle” doesn’t always mean time without purpose, sometimes it means frivolous or easy.   That thought best suits what I am calling idle hours.  I read books and poetry in idle hours or I write.  I watch clouds and make pictures out of them, like I did when I was six.  I think of my dreams, the night before and I have no shame in this.

Mostly, I am at the morning table, with the morning window by it, during idle hours.  Last night, I sat in moon shine and read.  I rose early this morning and watched the light change while I drank coffee-where the moonshine had fallen last night.  I took the time to feel glad about something that had happened yesterday.  I read something nice and said a prayer.  Such things are of great comfort to me and the thing is, I have come to depend on having some time at the morning table .  

When I came home yesterday, the fields around the rabbit patch were bare.  A group of about a dozen farmers were standing by combines and pick-up trucks, in what had been a cornfield, that same morning.   Two huge grain trucks were bumping full of bright yellow corn and I guess the men were  wondering what they would get for it and deciding the best place to carry it.  It was a familiar sight for me.  I have great respect for farmers.    As long as a farmer can, he still works.   Grandsons ride them around in old trucks and ask for advice about the crops, when the farmer can barely stand. When it snows at the rabbit patch, it is the farmers that clear the road-likewise, fallen trees.   No matter how many “lofty notions” a person may have about himself, it is a farmer that feeds him.

I saw a small flock of birds flying yesterday.  They were swooping and swirling and so I watched them a while. It was quite spectacular.  They moved like they were one, instead of twenty.  Blackbirds are  too common to be considered anything but ordinary -until you see them flying.  That can change your mind  about them in a few short minutes,  though you are liable to stay longer. 

  I went out tonight, as is my habit.  The sky was covered in clouds so thick that I could only see Venus, but I made a wish anyway.  I smelled the damp leaves, for the first time this year and I heard a whippoorwill  singing.  The moon was rising over the bare field behind the old barn .  I don’t know if I was there ten minutes or ten years as  an idle hour does not pass in the same fashion as the way of clocks  that hang on walls. . .but instead is measured by things like standing  in moon shine. . . . or blackbirds flying.

Living on a rabbit patch is not for the faint of heart.  My own, has barns that complain constantly about something.  The house itself, joins in, clamoring for its’ fair share of attention and the grounds around it can make me weary at times.  . .  but in September, on a day like today,  I forget all of that.  September makes me remember why I ended up on a rabbit patch-and the long and winding road that led me home.

In January, the farmhouse is cold and you are apt to want an old quilt over you in many of the rooms- but today the windows are wide open and the country air blowing through the house, does not allow me to harbor any resentment about past winters.  The ageratum is everywhere in masses.  They are as tender as spring violets and like the violets,they bloom where they please.  How lovely to come across a patch of them unexpectedly on my wanderings.  The bright yellow “swamp flowers ” are just about as friendly.  Their lowly name does not hinder their joyful presence in the least.  Years ago, I talked Kyle in to stopping by  a field and digging a few up, to carry back to the rabbit patch.  I am in the habit of this if I take a fancy to something blooming wild-no matter what you call them.  Kyle worked like his life depended on it, to do it quickly.  He found the practice odd and would have been horror-stricken if we had been seen in a ditch, digging flowers.  I always remember this, in September, when the rabbit patch seems to grow sunshine.

I am not sure whether I bought the rabbit patch, or the rabbit patch bought me, now a decade later.  I did not know that there was a busted pipe under the house and that the the water heater was useless.  I thought if I just painted it, all would be well.   There were five bedrooms-one for each of my children, in case they needed to move back.  I forgot they were grown and had their own homes, with the exception of the youngest two.  I think the wild irises blooming at the edge of the woods made me forget.  There are seven barns scattered about and it never crossed my mind that loose tin would be a perpetual thorn in my side-or that doors would fall off, ever so often.  I had painted flowers and verses on them.  I hung wreaths and painted birds and thought they were beautiful old barns. . .and they are.  I can barely keep an account of the wrongs of the rabbit patch, today though.  I can forgive and forget in September, especially when a full moon will rise over the fields tonight.

I came here not knowing that I would have a magnificent sunset view from the front porch.  I had forgotten that in the dark sky over a country dwelling, a million stars shine at night and you can see every one of them.  I didn’t know that the silence of rabbit patch would act like a tonic on me, either.

 It seems now, that all my life  I was  going down a long and winding road  leading me straight away to this old rabbit patch, so I would know that I can paint birds and roses – That I can stack wood, mow for hours and love a cold winter night in an old house.  In September, on the sweetest day. . .  I remember-and my heart is grateful for time well spent.

 

This week has been a bit too busy for my liking.  It seems every day, after work just held some unpleasant task for me to tend.  So far, there has been a car repair, car inspection and paying taxes.  I wouldn’t complain at all, if I had been buying those chrysanthemums or picking pumpkins, though, I would have been just as busy.  I am much better suited for things like that.  I still have two more items to complete that are “business related” tomorrow.  Thank Goodness, for a tea cup and a ginger lily -what a sweet difference they made, this week!

A friend of mine, took a trip to the mountains- The Blue Ridge mountains, of North Carolina.  Melissa is young enough to be my daughter, but has an old soul, I am sure.  We love the same things, from chickens to the Brandenburg Concertos-and a lot in between.  On Tuesday, she gave me the sweetest china teacup.  She had searched the many antique stores, along the parkway to find one with flowers and birds on it.  I had never spoken of my obsession with old china with her, yet she knew.  It is a wonderful feeling to know she thought of me, while  in far away hills and valleys.  It is a pretty little china cup and I took a fancy to it right away.

 People used to set such store in pretty dishes.  I wonder when it went out of fashion to have a pretty supper table.  A table set properly with even an everyday china makes a meal an occasion-and coffee in a china cup tastes better, I believe.  Besides all that- It is a lot more enjoyable to wash dishes if  there are dainty pink roses on them .  

I am noticing the sycamores are casting less shade daily. They make a frightful mess of things, with their huge leaves which curl as they dry.  Still, I have no quarrel with the sycamores.  We are old friends with a  long history of summer afternoons .  I have sought refuge in their shade and watched the stars come out, while sitting beneath them.  The sidewalk to the backdoor is  dependably cool, because of the sycamores.

The details of the week, have made for some long days.  I do not tarry from the car to the stove, and only glance around the rabbit patch, before going in.  One such day, a familiar scent, faint and sweet, came my way.  I went straight-away to the bed of ginger lilies.  A lone bloom had sweetened the air and I breathed it in deeply.  I had all but given up, weeks ago on the tall green stalks producing their ordinary little blossoms full of fragrance, yet here was one leaning against an empty birdhouse, and it made a difference in my walk-I slowed right down.

I saw the “silver apples of the moon” late that night.  The night air was cool when I turned my thoughts to things to be glad for . . . .like friends that care enough to look for china teacups with flowers and birds adorning them, just because you love them-and a ginger lily blooming . . . because you love them too.

Yesterday, when the morning came gently to the rabbit patch,  I had a lot of lofty notions.  As it turns out, one hope got dashed, and then another.  I gave up on remaining cheerful alittle while before evening and took to the woods of the rabbit patch, where all things are wild and beautiful.

I had plans to mow, which requires the best part of the afternoon.  I was aggravated  to find the gas can was dry as it has ever been.  This meant a trip to town and back.  I talked Kyle into going for me.  He was back in three minutes, because he never left.  The car needed a repair again, he told me-and he was right.  There went the mowing . . . .and the hopes of buying chrysanthemums for the porch.

That was not the end of it.  I received some unpleasant news in late afternoon.  Nothing “earth shattering” but “timing is everything” sure rang true, in that moment.  Something or other, just seemed intent on disturbing the peace of the rabbit patch, this particular day.  When the loose tin on the barn rattled in the breeze, I felt it sounded like a hateful chuckle at my predicament-so I decided we would at least hang the door that had been waiting a month.  You know it didn’t fit-so, I did what I could do-I called mama and complained.

We ended up cancelling Sunday dinner and sadly, but rightly so-as with great hesitation, I plan to mow today.  My friend Jo Dee, has had a crisis of some sort, the past two summers.  On those occasions, she makes pickles!  Pickles do take a long time, so I suppose it is a  sort of therapy for her.  I have never made pickles that were really “fit”   -so  at such times, I take to the woods and fields.  I did so yesterday.

I must have had the face of despair, because Christian asked me what I was going to do, as he caught me in a trance, in the yard.  I said, ” I am just going to walk” and headed for the fields.  Cash came with me.  No rabbit was going to get me this day!  I walked slowly.  I was going to present my case with precision-but I came up on the grapevine, and started picking the very few ripe  ones.  The fields lie just beyond  the vines.  I stared at them a while.  It is hard to be grumpy in their presence.  They are just so quiet and so unconcerned about things like mowers that are out of gas.  I looked around.  The huge yard is untidy, but at some point it won’t be, I thought.  I sauntered on to the young woods, where the rabbits live.  The bright fuschia berries of the French Mulberry were in all their glory.   To say the woods were lovely  is an understatement-what with the berries and loosestrife randomly blooming- and the wild butterfly bushes had little yellow flutters all about them.  It did not seem such a bad lot, to be “stranded” in such a place.

I never did “state my case”, but instead I felt like I had. The light was fading, when Cash and I made our way back to the old farmhouse.  Cash walked with a great sense of pride, that no harm had come to me on his watch.  I walked back, restored in spirit and regretted ever thinking that this day was less than any other, in greatness.  I had been where all things are wild and beautiful. . . and that had made all the difference.

I spend a good part of a day finding beauty.  The more I look for it, the more I find it.  Often, it jumps right out at me, from a place I didn’t know to look.  Other times, it shows up in familiar places.  I always love when morning comes gently-a morning like this one.

Light comes in the window by the “morning table” without causing a sense of hurry.  I have coffee when I want, and as much as I want.  I think my thoughts like I have all the time in the world and then I take to writing them down.  Maybe in January, I will need to remember that a mockingbird was here in June or that the star spangled sky in August is still overhead, just hidden in winters’ shadows.

I do have lofty plans today.  The yard needs mowing-after the debris has been cleared.  It will take the afternoon to do so-but there’s no telling what treasures I will find in those hours.  I am wondering what stage the french mulberry is in.  The young rabbits living in the patch of loosestrife will be disturbed, as they always are, when I mow-and I will see how much they have grown when they abandon their ship!  The “autumn joy” flowers from Miss Susie are blooming-right on time, this year-I will tell them they are beautiful and thank them-without a bit of shame.  I will check to see if the grapes are turning when I mow back behind the barn, and if they are, I will thank them too.

I may buy chrysanthemums for the porch, if all goes well.   They should get along nicely with the geraniums .  This depends heavily on the lawn mower, of course.  I will plan Sunday dinner today, no matter if  the mower behaves poorly. 

I see the loose tin on the barn through the window by the morning table-as I make plans to buy flowers.  There is a door waiting to be hung, too.  Sometimes the rabbit patch shows no mercy on my predicament.  I declare I will downsize one day.  Somewhere there is a little rabbit patch waiting, and it has my name on it.  I used to be so fearful just thinking about it-but somehow the fear left me.  I don’t care which rabbit patch, I end up in-it will be every bit as magical and every bit as peaceful as the one I have now.  I have found beauty on the ditchbanks and in the back yard.  It does not hide from a seeker.  I have not had to visit the four corners corners of the earth nor be of royal descent to know that this world is not short on beauty.  When the morning comes gently, I think of such things.

I will be glad for today with the autumn joy blooming and the smell of grapes ripening.  I will look for the kitten that Christian has seen this week-a tiny little guy that it seems Christopher Robin has taking a shine to-and I will  hear what the french mulberry is saying about September. . . and,  I will thank them,  too

I am in the habit of listening to the world.  Maybe it is because I am a musician, or maybe it is because I am curious by nature, and have the notion I might miss something beautiful if I squander a moment.    I have heard September’s song.  The prelude to autumn is the sound of September, after all.

The song of September drifts through the rabbit patch like an old fashioned lullaby sung in a hushed voice.  I recognized the familiar melody yesterday evening.  As long as I have called this place home, I have heard it-yet , I forget to expect it.  

The music is first conjured up in the corn fields. The drying stalks rustle in the breeze soft like a whisper.  I heard it last night, when all the rest of the world was quiet.  

The songbird community has dwindled on the rabbit patch and that shows up, this time of year.  There is very little chatter at any time of day.  The trees do not have the secrets they had in May. The mornings are quiet but,   in late night hours, the killdeer still fly, as is their habit .  If a falling star made a sound on its’ descent, it would sound like a killdeer crying out .  The owls will call out gently to one another at night and I like their way of that.  Often, the nights of September are foggy and I can only see a half million stars, now.  It is quite serene and it feels like the passing moments are sacred, when I am out on the rabbit patch,  in the very late evening.  So many times, I “save up” questions, during the day, to ask about at night.  Most often, I get caught up in the peace and the beauty-and it seems that’s why I am there.

It is Friday-an insignificant day  to me, in summer.  Friday feels different, now.  I came home today and heard the sound of a combine rumbling.  It is not unusual to hear one a good part of the night.  I have seen them in distant fields most of my life til late autumn.  Many farmers are friendly and will let children ride in the cab with them, for a while.  At night, the farmer rides alone in massive fields , especially if there is the threat of rain.  When you get up, the next morning, you see that he has opened the sky and it will make you feel a bit smaller.

One night, this week, some neighbors- young people made a small fire to sit around.  This is not a bit unusual in Farm Life or any rural community, I bet.  I heard the lilt in their voices  and could tell they were cheerful.  I smelled the wood smoke and saw it rising just under the moon. It is about impossible to be anything but content, when you sit around a fire, on a misty September night.  It will make your heart open and you are liable to cast your cares in to the ashes, like you would a pine branch.

September has a song-and the melody is pure and sweet.   There is a verse about kildeer and owls-fires and those who tend the earth.   It is first sung in the fields and it is gentle enough to make you weep-not because it is sad. . . .but because it is just so very beautiful

I have a beautiful drive home from work.  Past fields and through woodlands, under big sky,  I journey on to get back to the rabbit patch.   No matter how good the hours have passed, I want to get home.  While there is light, I begin supper .  I find I need to start supper, before I even sit down, if not , depending on how long I sit, chances  can get mighty slim for us to have a home cooked supper.

Cash, my boxer , has not yet started going to school with me, this year.  I am still conducting classes with new students and I take great pains to instruct them on proper behavior around dogs, before Cash attends -so for now, when I enter the old farmhouse, there is a greeting ritual with Cash and Christopher Robin too.  On the hardest of days, it is good to be home.

I notice what needs to be done in the yard, and make mental notes to plan accordingly for the weekend.  The entire territory is most untidy now. There are fallen branches now, from the storm and the grass needs mowing again.  I declare there is no rest on this rabbit patch. 

When the kitchen starts to smell good,  a feeling of sheer contentment takes hold of me.  Years back, the rabbit patch was a full house.  My grandmother and my three younger sons lived here at the time.  The kitchen was busy and we all talked while I was peeling potatoes.  Supper is a lot quieter now.  I am glad for the occasional commotion that Cash and Christopher Robin cause.  Sometimes it is only the three of us.  At such times, we all have supper at the same time.  They are good company and wait patiently for me to wash dishes.  We go in to the den afterwards and they nap while I relax at the morning table.

I do like the peace and quiet of the rabbit patch.  I like coming home where things make good sense-where things are familiar.  The old oaks and the breeze blowing through them seem in cahoots to keep the place a sanctuary of sorts.  In the presence of the oaks, I find restoration .  

I go out at night to bid the world sweet dreams and to reflect on the contents of the day.  Last night the moon was especially colorful, though it only showed a glimpse of  its’ fullness.  The sky was black otherwise.  It is hard to feel anxious about anything under such conditions.  The complexities of the day, pale in comparison, to the serenity of  the night at the rabbit patch.

When all is said and done, this is the way a day passes at the rabbit patch.  In this fashion, I spend my life-and I am quite content to do so.