Hunkered Down

No social distancing – Photo: L. Weikel

By mid afternoon today, Karl and I had hunkered down. All five of our animals were in the same room with us, four of them observing absolutely no social distancing. The fifth, Precious, was to the surprise of no one, enjoying the ‘togetherness’ from the other side of the room.

It was cold outside. The weather app said it was 42 degrees – but felt like 38. That’s chilly. And the day was gray gray gray. It was a perfect day to curl up with a good book, cuddle with the beasts, and maybe – just maybe – take a quick nap.

After writing a bit in my journal, I sat up and declared, “I don’t want to take a walk today.”

“Ok,” Karl agreed, not needing to have his arm twisted. I sat back in my chair, relieved that he wasn’t going to guilt me today. Usually we act as the voice of conscience for each other, each taking up the mantel of Goader in Chief when the other is of a mind to skip a day of mindful meandering. But sometimes neither one of us can muster it up, so we take a day. All things in balance.

I resumed my writing. He resumed his reading.

Duty Called

All of a sudden, I realized sunlight was streaming in the window from over my shoulder. Glancing out that window, not only did the blanket of overcast appear to be breaking apart, but there were also some very obviously annoyed cardinals flitting about the lawn underneath the empty feeders. A blue jay clung to the equally empty peanut loop and glared in my general direction.

Reaching for the bag of peanuts so I could refresh the peanut loop, I realized just how hard I’ve been hitting these babies lately. Nevertheless, I forced myself to fill the loop and, while I was at it and the sun seemed to shine even brighter minute by minute, I filled all the feeders with their favorite black oil sunflower seeds.

By this time, I realize the sky was indeed clearing up. The decision not to walk today was a lame one. No, I didn’t feel like walking. It was definitely still brilliantly cold out. But the sun was shining and the day was gorgeous. How could I to say no to this chance to walk my talk?

Change of Plans

I walked inside and as easily as I’d declared the day to be a no-walk day, I rescinded my assessment. “We need to walk,” I stated matter-of-factly.

Karl sighed. “Alright. We’ll do a two,” he conceded. “But that’s it.” He was being a great sport. He’d been snuggled under a blanket and Spartacus had been cuddling. That would be tough to leave under any circumstances.

But rally he did. And once we got on the road, the weather seemed to soften even more. With barely a reference to it, we took the long way.

It ended up being a four mile walk today in spite of ourselves. From hunkered down to taking the ‘long way.’ I guess you could say we ‘went with the flow’ and listened.

And the clouds responded by showing us some love.