June 6, 2024
Trip To Raleigh
Bodhi’s barks cut the night’s silence short. He was up yelling at something at 2:30, and then 4:30, in the morning. I got up to check on the situation, even though it was a tale-tale sign that only one dog was barking. We sometimes joked that Bodhi barked at things when he saw something, thought he saw something, or had a thought about seeing something. I went back to bed, but we woke up about fifteen minutes later.
Last night, we were both in bed early and this morning; we reaped the dividends. It had been a long time since I felt so rested. I made a mental note to get back on a strict sleep schedule. The morning was pretty routine. There was coffee and a doggy breakfast served. A dog had thrown up on one of their blankets, which prompted some unplanned cleaning and a load of laundry.
During coffee, we watch Axel show off his intelligence with a game we played. All the dogs loved it when we tangled a ball inside a blanket. They would all find the ball’s location and chew and squeeze it, but it was a chore for them to get the ball out from under the blanket. This morning, Axel showed us his special technique when he let the ball go, grabbed a corner of the blanket and marched off until the ball rolled out. He was quite proud of himself and repeated his trick for us several times.
When my wife drove off, there were deer in the pasture, feeding behind the barn. I went back inside, made a cup of coffee, and then sat down at my desk to write for an hour and a half. Today, I would have a busy start to the workday, as I was leaving at midday for a dental cleaning appointment in Raleigh. That meant getting a full day’s work in by noon.
Before work started, however, I made time to get into the woods for a walk. The morning skies were clouded, and humidity permeated the thick air, a reminder that a humid North Carolina summer was approaching. I appreciated the breeze blowing through the forest, which made the moisture in the air feel bearable. Several crows were in the treetops, cawing at me as I entered the trailhead at the pine grove.
As I moved toward the creek, I suddenly stopped after seeing a deer at the end of the trail, about a hundred yards in front of me. The deer stood frozen, watching me, and I had time to shoot a few photos of it before it barked the alarm. When the doe bolted, six or seven other deer emerged, all taking flight toward the creek. One deer was behind me and to my right. It ran through the forest parallel to me, as it shifted left and right to avoid hitting the trees. It was a cool experience to have a deer come up from my rear and pass by me. These animals were so graceful and powerful, and the sight of seeing them run full speed right by me made my trip into the forest worth it.
As luck would have it, work was busy with a fire that came up. I had to work quickly to resolve an issue before I was off work, which made for a fun morning. Noon arrived quickly, and before I knew it, I was powering down my computer for the day. While I was getting ready for my trip into Raleigh, I received a delivery from Nespresso with a shipment of coffee. It was always fun to replenish this drink that was so prized in my home.
The drive into Raleigh was relatively uneventful, although it was still something to see so many cars in one place. I spent a lot of my life driving in large cities, so it didn’t feel overwhelming, but I realized my decision to isolate myself from this frenzy was a good one. I wouldn’t want to deal with this every day. There was no traffic on the way to the dentist and I arrived at the parking lot about thirty-five minutes early. The dental cleaning was fine. A little pain never hurt anyone.
The drive home was slow. Google Maps routed me down some back roads because there was an accident on the highway. My wife later passed by the area and told me the reported accident was actually a stalled vehicle and police car on the side of the road. The distraction of the scene had slowed the traffic to a crawl. It took me twice as long to get home as it did to drive to the city.
When I arrived back near Bailey, I drove to the Piggly Wiggly to pick up some groceries. Yesterday, my wife asked me if I could take care of dinner and I wanted to make smoked ribeye tacos. As soon as I arrived home, I tenderized the steaks, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and threw them on the smoker. After, I gathered all the trash in the house and made a quick run to the trash service center.
When I came back from dropping off the trash, I saw a lone deer standing out in a field on a property just south of my house. My wife, who arrived about fifteen minutes later, reported seeing the same deer.
It was really nice being off work for the rest of the day. Despite the feeling of being punched in the face, my mouth improved once the numbness wore off. My wife cut up some small tomatoes, an avocado, and a jalapeno pepper while I turned up the heat on the grill, cooking the steaks off and warming up corn tortillas. Ten minutes later, I was slicing the meat into strips and we started building our plates. Tacos made with smoked ribeye were the best.
Evening came, and we both showered and cleaned up. We were in bed by nine in the evening, where we promptly fell asleep. I woke up later, feeling rested, thinking it was time to get up, but when I checked my watch, it was only 12:02 in the morning. That blew my mind. I used to go to bed later than this. At 3:30, I woke up once more because of a storm that arrived. I lied still in bed, listening to the loud thunder, seeing flashes of lightning sneaking in through the edges of the curtained window. I took a deep breath, relaxed, and listened to the storm's sound while I drifted back to sleep.