Over the years

…though there have been just a few, one summer morning I wake up and realize it is the perfect morning to begin a vacation.  Oh, I'm not going to do that today, but the conditions are perfect for someone, anyone to be opening the trunk of their car and putting their suitcases into it.

If it were me, I can see myself, preparing snacks to munch along the way and a tall (mostly ice cube filled) container of water sitting on the kitchen counter next to my purse with my house keys sitting alongside.

Zorro and Frankie are so excited they can barely contain themselves.  They know something wonderful is about to happen.  Frankie pretends to be reading the colorful brochures of the places we are going to see.  She sits.  She stands weight on one foot and then the other. She sits.  Zorro of course wonders if he is going to participate or be stuck at home with some stranger checking in on him from time to time.

I wander through the house, checking locked windows and doors, make sure last potty breaks were taken and that the toilets are NOT idly running.  I know lights are on timers, mail service has been stopped, neighbors have been notified we will be gone, and one in particular has our itinerary 'just in case'.

By now, I've a gigantic lump of excitement in my throat, I run through all the things on my hand written note, my #2 pencil making various sized check marks as I go.  One last hasty walk through the house and I'm finally standing at my front door.  Frankie is making her way to the car; Zorro gives me a quizzical look as if to say, “Is this my final potty break?”

I breathe in the cool, rose and lemon mint scented air.  Bees flit by.  Summer birds sing.  I glance at the outdoor thermometer the temperature reads a perfect 68 degrees.  The sky is a cloudless amethyst blue.  I close the door and gaze around my neighborhood full of 'comfortable' while Frankie, Zorro and I begin a venture into the unknown and places never seen.  We're going to eat things we've never had before in quaint small town diners and sleep in uncomfortable beds not quite our own.  We'll stop at every local historical, natural and tourist trap to buy things that will eventually sit in draws or shelves gathering dust.

And finally we’ll come home; tired and weary yet eager to see things familiar...our freeway off ramp, the fast food joints, the neighborhood gas station, the neighborhood store and school.  Oh...there it is! The four way stop with blinking light and finally...our street...our block...our home.

Sigh.

Today would be a perfect day to start a vacation.

My Mountain Ash

There is a Mountain Ash tree in my neighbor's back yard I can clearly see from my office window. I've watched it grow from a sapling I tended for a few years while the house sat empty.   Over the years it grew to adulthood and my sapling tending has since given it the appearance of a man being 'held up' in some alleyway.  Its mouth in oblong '0', arms outstretched on either side of the main trunk.

Last year I reported the armpits had grown hair in the form of bright green moss giving the tree an even more human appearance.  I never know what to expect from this Ash from year to year.

This year something even more unexpected has happened.  Oh, the armpits are still distinguished, but the arm on its left has grown the start of new branches.  They started out tiny, and I suspected they would not survive the crazy spring weather we've had.

Well, color me surprised.  The all the newbies have indeed survived and are already well over two feet long, with still a long growing season ahead.  It will be interesting to see just how big and long they will be by the leaf shedding time.

Sadly, the tree is losing its human appearance, because the new branches are slowly covering the '0', and the left armpit will be behind them.  I so enjoy nature because there are always surprises, sometimes they are tiny and can be easily missed like the half robin's egg I found in my front yard a few days ago.  But, sometimes they are large and change the face of my environment in dramatic and pleasant ways.  Thank you Mountain Ash.