Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

But before I do, let me write a bit. Our day started early as Katherine has a tooth pulled very early this morning. Gerald took her in their van, and after I had helped a tiny bit with her shoes and raincoat, I stayed behind and relaxed at her house reading on in a novel I started over the weekend.

Then Gerald got a haircut and I read some more. We did a quick run into Target as I have been looking at various stores trying to find four lightweight pots to replant the huge vine that has just gotten too long and luxurious in one of our windows. I still have not found exactly what I want, but at least am beginning to store what is out there that I must settle for.

Katherine’s night aide had to move out of the area and Katherine's bad tooth had made her MS worsen, so I have tried to help a bit this week before we leave for the weekend. Her sheet of directions from the dentist said she was to eat soft foods today, so I told her I’d make chili for supper since the rain had made the day not only damp but also chilly. She said that sounded good.

I try to keep chili ingredients on hand so if a shift in the weather calls for it, I can easily make a simple dish to warm us up. Unfortunately after I got home, I found I had used up my supply of beans and tomato juice usually on the bottom shelf of the pantry. So after a restful afternoon, I browned the hamburger and onion, but needed to run into the store before I was able to complete the chili.

Since it was Senior Citizen Day, I just went ahead and bought the monthly supplies I get from that store as well as the fixings for the chili, which I completed at Katherine and David’s house. I was glad I did since I found out Katherine had been looking forward to it. I am always a little self-conscious about my chili as David makes delicious chili from the deer he slays. But it was a cozy meal for us I did not bother with dessert other than taking in some bananas because they still had sweets left over from her birthday weekend.

Their family watches American Idol, and I completely enjoyed watching it with them. I have watched bits of it before but had never watched an entire program.

When I came home awhile ago, it was slightly foggy. Not enough to make for difficult driving, but enough to make the night scene look vaguely different than usual. I can remember one night taking home one of my mother’s assistants when the fog was so bad that I could not see houses to know where I was. I went by one turn-off on my way back home and was so relieved when I finally made it safely into our garage. I have driven in that kind of fog once or twice since.

Tonight, however, it was just foggy enough to make the drive seem romantically mystical and the road seem longer between landmarks. I remembered when we first moved over to the hog farm and I used this road for the first time at night. I had driven it many times in the daytime when our brother and wife lived at the hog farm; and of course, I had driven to work from there after we moved.

But we were in play practice at the high school at that time, and coming home in the dark at the end of the night’s practice, I drove the road alone for the first time in the dark. It was not foggy, but it looked completely different than in daytime and the country road seemed much longer than usual. I grew afraid I was lost. I wasn’t. I had the same sensation tonight of the road being longer than it usually seemed although I always knew exactly where I was. The damp misty quality of the evening gave just enough of an edge to make an ordinary drive seem heavy with mystery and stirred my imagination and my memories of days gone by.