A Thank You to Readers of SITC

Standing here, on the back porch, my attention drifts to the warm cup of coffee in my left hand; and in that moment I am suffused with Pleasure and Gratitude. It is a sunny day but cold and the only warmth available comes to me through my hand. In the moment, cold is all but vanquished and I am completely content.

I set the cup down to light a cigarette and my attention drifts to the porch:  that chair is in the wrong place, the wind has swept the abandoned bird's nest (found by C many months ago) onto the floor. It is "out of place"; I also marvel that despite its delicate construction it has remained intact. 

The screens need repair. They have needed repair for over a year. I nurse an annoyance about this from time to time. I nurse it a bit as I take that long first draw on my cigarette. I am cold now. And annoyed about the screens. And fret a bit about whether or not to restore the nest to it's place on the little table.

And a bird calls -- not melodic but raucous and insistent.

The next moment is complex:  Simultaneously, several things occur in the space of perhaps two seconds. I perceive myself in a Scene; I feel a dramatic momentum carried forward by my thoughts and feelings and actions of the preceding seconds...and I am amused by this AND I know I am playing the final scene.

And, whoosh

I am free. I detach from thought and feeling

and breathe

When I return from that space/place and resume reading the external environment, I look out, beyond the ragged screens.

I see the courageous little gardenia bush returning from the dead...and the plum tree that stands beside it like a protective older sister... The deep backyard has become even more overgrown in the last few weeks, stubbornly refusing to take a winter break.

Past the houses that lie beyond the fence that borders our property, and their little yards, runs College Street. I see passing cars incompletely through stripped bare branches of young trees. And on the other side of the street, someone is lying on the ground doing situps. I can feel the exertion of the exercise in my body. I think "Whew! That's intense and it feels good." I lightly consider starting an exercise regimen...

It's the last day of 2014. There is widespread acknowledgement of this transition as significant. Portentous. The sense of farewell, release. We reminisce and look forward.

Wishing you, dear Reader, all the best. Now and in the year to come. Thank you for reading.