It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

 

My purpose for being outside was to start cleaning out the flowerbeds in the front yard. I would like to say I was there to perform a more manly chore, however, my body pretty much dictates the degree of manliness involved in my chore and today it was saying "flowerbeds". It was not really cold outside but not really warm either and the wind seemed to be kind of irritating. There are some rather large boulders bordering a large Red Oak containing the flowerbed I had chosen to begin working on. I kneeled down near the large rocks and then my knees decided it would be much more comfortable to just sit flat on my butt. As I sat and leaned back against the rocks, I kind of nestled between the rocks and all of a sudden I felt comfortable.

Being close to the ground I could no longer feel the irritating effects of the wind but I could feel the calming heat of the sun. For the moment, cleaning out the flowerbed was on hold. My old body said, "I am comfortable, this is nice". As I sat there, a flurry of leaves blew past me heading south. I thought I recognized several of them from a bunch of northbound leaves the day before. As I sat there protected by my rocky abode, I looked down the street and thought how beautiful our little neighborhood street is, or at least it would be if it weren't for all the garbage bags and boxes sitting out at the curb. It was garbage day.

I could hear the wind blowing through the leafless limbs of the great Red Oak above me as I peered up into the bright blue sky. It was so tranquil until it was interrupted by the scraping noise of a large cardboard box being blown from someone's garbage pile down the street at about 10 to 15 mph. Then it stopped directly in front of my house and just sat there even though the wind had not let up. I sat there thinking "Crap", I was going to have to go out and accept responsibility for someone else's trash. Then, just as I had about given up hope, the box began to move again and I had to resist waving goodbye as the rogue box had just become someone else's problem.

As I sat there drifting closer to an unscheduled nap, I heard such a clatter I had to set up to see what was the mater. It was an aluminum foil pie pan flipping down the street like a lame Frisbee. Then about fifty feet behind the pie pan was a twelve inch square of Styrofoam coming down the street being chased by the sports section of yesterday's Ft Worth Star Telegram. It was going to be a close race to the corner but the Styrofoam got lodged behind the neighbor's mailbox and the sports page won going away. You know how Styrofoam is, it's not the smartest or the most athletic when it comes to trash.

I sat there kind of caught up in the beauty of nature and the sounds of trash blowing by my house, when the neighbor from across the street, a young police officer, came walking out in his yard and gave me a holler. He said he was just checking on me, but probably was making sure I hadn't passed out in the front yard. I assured him I was fine and he put his handcuffs back in his pocket and went back in the house.

I leaned back for one more look into God's beautiful sky. I breathed the cool fresh air that seemed to clear my mind and put me at ease as I looked upward. Then, as though punctuating an end to a perfect morning, I could see the almost effortless flight of a mighty eagle as it rode the winds currents. It came closer and I was awed at its majesty and I felt a sense of pride as he flew overhead and..... began to circle....well crap! It's a dang buzzard thinking he's found lunch!