Make Up Day

It didn't start out to be an extraordinary day. In fact, my upstairs neighbors had decided to hold a bowling tournament in the bedroom above mine that continued well into the wee hours of the morning. At least that's what it sounded like, complete with stomping feet, dropped heavy items and lots of talking and laughter. I tried to plug my ears, but even the toughest ear plugs couldn't handle the rumbling. I tried turning the air purifier up to the top level, but no soap. I tried praying hellfire and brimstone down from heaven to no avail. I finally gave in to my irresistible impulse to take a stick and pound on the ceiling in the hopes that 1) they would actually hear it over their ruckus and 2) it wouldn't make them mad and desirous of retaliation. All that did was make me feel a bit less explosive.

They finally calmed down, I went to sleep, and all too soon I woke for devotions with none too much energy. I dragged myself about getting ready, called Drew who didn't move and decided I didn't have the wherewithall to fight him, especially since he was also kept awake late. I looked out the window to an overcast sky promising rain. It was all I could do to force myself to step outside and shut the door irrevocably behind me, heading off cross lots towards the library. Monday indeed!

I was totally unprepared for the delight I discovered on my walk. As I stood by the step near the back door, I thought I heard a bumblebee. "Great," I thought. "All I need is to get stung." But a flash of irridescent blue caught my eye. It wasn't a bumblebee at all but a beautiful hummingbird helping itself to the nectar in the flowering bushed nearby.

Halfway across the first lot I stepped in a grassy hollow and startled a mourning dove who fluttered up past my face with a whir of cooing. Before I had gotten as far as the complex office, I encountered a tiny baby bunny quivering in the grass near an empty apartment. It never moved. I walked with inches of it and it just sat there breathing rapidly, its little heart thumping practically out of its chest.

At the special wildlife section, two goldfinches flew right in front of my eyes, bouncing off a purple thistle and darting into a nearby honeysuckle vine. Delicate morning glories sprinkled the lawn by the church, and geese floated lazily on the pond. It was as if they were trying to make up for their absence yesterday during my Black Creek walk.

Later I watched with amusement as an entire population of sea gulls sat on the inside of the track while 300 kids played soccer drills in the rain. I wondered if the quiet spectators, downed by a steady summer rain, thought the humans a bit weird to be exerting so much energy to no end.

Finally on the way home from the grocery store, we slowed the car for "goose bumps" - a gaggle of geese walking down the road with no concern for the traffic they were impeding. What an oddly delightful rainy nature-filled Monday it turned out to be.

As for my noisy neighbors, I suspect they missed it all. Probably too exhausted from their late night antics.