April 11, 2024
Magic
This morning, the entire household felt a little tired. I joked that there must have been a gas leak, but got no laughs, and only one tail wag from my trusty dog, Axel. Although we didn’t have gas at our house, we all seemed to be under a weary spell. The day’s forecast called for rain and high winds all day, which put a damper on my wife’s only day off. We made some lattes and took them outside. The rain had not started, but the clouds certainly looked gloomy. We heard several birds chirping and a beautiful red-shouldered hawk cried out as it soared above us. I studied our deck, now fully decorated with furniture that matched the set out in the garden. The place looked established.
My wife, always wise and ever hungry, asked if we should go to breakfast in Middlesex at a little breakfast place called Wiggs Family Restaurant. I looked at my watch and I still had two hours before work started. We threw on some presentable clothes and headed to the car. I was excited about the biscuits, which were the size of my large palm. When we arrived, we learned they were out of biscuits, so I settled for some plain toast, which I forgot how much I liked. I ate the eggs with fried pork tenderloins and my wife had bacon and eggs. We both ordered their home style potatoes, which were always on point. We ate breakfast and then headed back home, me with plenty of time to shower and get ready for work.
When I logged into my computer at nine, it rained. The dark sky persuaded me to open my blinds, and I glanced out the window periodically to check the weather. The day was heavily clouded and the rainfall would be an all-day affair. My wife was having a difficult time relaxing as it was her only day off this week. Because of someone else’s poor behavior, she had to switch work locations during the last week of her current rotation. Although we were happy she was out of the toxic environment, the new work location meant we would be away from each other over the next few weeks. I sensed her stress and remembered many times when I felt like my day off wasn’t productive or restful. It was stressful knowing time off was dwindling and that you’d be back at work before you knew it. I had experienced this many times.
During my lunch break, we gathered up all the trash in the house. We had several bags and a truck full of cardboard boxes from the recently purchased patio furniture. For whatever reason, I always felt lighter after making a trip to the trash service center, knowing that I had cleared my environment from garbage. I believed there was a strong connection between the condition of our environment and our general mood. A sloppy home promoted a sloppy attitude, and when the house was clean, my mind felt more clear.
After work, I was on a mission to save the day and cheer up my wife, but how? With my dashing good looks and undeniable sense of humor? Those were so commonplace that they might have lost their edge. I needed something more powerful; magical. Yes, a magic potion. That would do the trick. I poured her beer into one of the frosted mason jars we kept in the freezer and put on some music. By the time she was halfway through with the mysterious brew, I could tell her mood had lifted. Oh, the wizardry. We sat outside talking and laughing, watching the tall pines that border the forest sway back and forth like flimsy blades of grass. The powerful winds ushered in the evening’s magic, transforming the whole place. Under the spell of a second cup of the magical brew, I grabbed my wife’s small hand and told her were going on an adventure. A tree-dodging walk through the haunted forest.
The walk through the forest was lovely. The weather was less than tame, with intermittent rain and full-time wind gusts that made the pines creak as one tree’s branches rubbed against those of another. Courageously, we made our way through the forest toward the creek until we arrived at Beaver Tooth Rock. We paused there watching nature’s display of force, and then talked a little about how, sometimes, with the right magic and incantation, a bad day always had the potential to turn around. After I stole long kisses on top of the rock, we eased our way back down onto the forest floor.
When we arrived home, my wife fed the dogs while I cleaned the kitchen. After, she took a long bath, but not before thanking me several times for helping her out of her funk. I wondered if she remembered how many times she had done the same thing for me. The rest of the evening was mostly quiet. After I showered, my mother called, worried about my brother because he had a bout of cellulitis and was battling a fever. The boy even took off work, which he never did. My mother had googled the condition, which diagnosed every condition as fatal. The doctor prescribed my brother strong antibiotics and sent him home. I assured my mother that if it was more serious, they would have sent him to the hospital.
Today was a great day. Tomorrow, my wife would leave for Durham and stay there for the next three days. I knew I would miss her, but school was also coming to a close. And even though every step of the last few miles of a marathon hurt, the finish line was quickly approaching.