Coming home...

I went away for a long weekend to Atlanta Pet Fair. The drive to the airport was wild and wooly, in the midst of a fairly significant snow storm. My sweet husband drove me, and as we slid down the highway I was most grateful for that gift. In Atlanta there are fruit trees blooming and flowers planted. The air was soft and sweet, except when there were torrential storms and tornadoes all around us. The Pet Fair was filled with smiling, familiar faces. There were glad reunions with friends and talking till my voice was tired. I gave three seminars, all of which were well received. And I worked at the German Red Clipper booth with wonderful Erich and Tony, a grand succession of dogs and endless groomers stopping by to take the clipper for a test drive. Between working, there was catching up with folks I only see once or twice a year; and that is always fine. Flying back I could look down through the night sky at deep violet clouds and puddles of twinkling lights below them. As we got closer and closer to home the lights became fewer and the snowy ground reflected opalescent moonlight up to the wings of the plane and beyond. It was aching lovely. Lovelier still was the sight of my good man waiting for me at the bottom of the steps at the airport. Flirt the toy poodle was tucked inside his leather jacket, searching each face for the one she loves the best. When she finally found me she gave one enormous squirm and flew into my arms. She doled out a few delighted kisses and then gave a deep sigh and relaxed against me, happy. It snowed all the way home and when we saw the lights of our house in the wee hours of the morning there was that familiar sense of relief to have arrived safely at the place we love the best. After too short a time in my own bed I woke to take care of the animals. A thin winter sun shone down on the fresh snow.

Outside my window Morning Doves huddled in the pine near the feeder, hopeful.

In contrast, Adventure Chicken had let herself into the garage and hopped into the metal trash can where we keep sunflower seed. I found her when I went to scoop food for those doves... and got my first laugh of the day.

In the coop was another surprise... duck eggs! They have not laid eggs since last summer, so this egg-citing!

Inside the air is wood stove warm and welcoming, with sleek, happy dogs soaking up the heat. I noticed a stack of boxes by the door. Big boxes. This is what they contained:

That was my second laugh of the day! You see, last week we had a delightful visit from my childhood friend, Melanie. Along with her was her kind husband, Barry and wonderful twin sons. We had a bit of time to catch up and it was a real treat. At some point Melanie was helping me in the kitchen and said, "Oh, you just ran out of paper towels." I said, "I may have more, but maybe not, too. Chris buys less than I use, which is probably a good thing." Melanie laughed and told me that her husband tended to keep very well stocked on paper goods of all kinds. I joked and said, "If you ever want to give me a good gift, send me a whole bunch of paper products. I'd feel RICH to have extras." And that is just what she did. Three huge boxes; paper towels, toilet paper, boxes of tissues and more. All of this is now neatly stocked in my handy new pantry and I do. I do feel RICH. So there were storms and travel and laughter and successful times and more travel and more snow and too little sleep and then coming home and more laughter. It's a gift, all of it!