A Day in the Life

A ripe, red apple sat begging Carin to lift it from the fruit bowl sitting on the counter next to the vintage tape player and dive into its juicy contents. She had just pushed open the squeaky door leading into her small kitchen, almost stepping in Marcie’s milk dish on the way to plug in the teapot, anxious for that cup of Earl Grey to soothe her aching body. Another rainy day in Seattle, umbrella left in the hall closet as she rushed out of the apartment in the early morning hours had left her wet and rumpled at the end of the day. Biting into her last apple while kicking off her shoes, Carin realized she left her travel book at the gym where she just barely made it through her daily regimen. Trying to lose twenty unwanted pounds before her trip to Bolivia was proving harder than she bargained for.

Carin quickly turned to the sound of Marcie’s claws scratching on the arms of the couch once more. Even though it was old and worn, that deep-red couch oozed with memories from Nanny’s house, Carin’s beloved great-grandmother. She scurried into the other room to shoo her black and white cat away from her favorite sharpening post before answering the call of the teapot’s whistle signaling its readiness to provide soothing relief from a long day. While enjoying time with “Earl”, Carin bounced around thoughts on retrieving the forgotten book, finished off the apple while welcoming Marcie’s apologetic leap into her lap and clicked on the BBC to catch up with the news of the day. She always felt better about her life after a few minutes of bad news from around the world!

Rain pouring from the eaves, splashing on the windowpanes and thunder rolling across the sky overhead woke Carin from an unexpected snooze. The news was long over, Marcie had obviously found a new resting spot and tonight would definitely not find her out retrieving her book from the gym. Pulling herself up and back into the kitchen to forage for some semblance of dinner, Carin noticed the orange spray paint can she recently purchased sitting on the peeling windowsill. She mentally added that project to her list of things she must do tomorrow if the weather cooperated, that is, taking a look out the filmy window to be greeted by sheets of rain obscuring the view, what little she had from her sixth floor apartment. The wonderful Saturday morning flea market find was waiting to be lovingly transformed into a chest to hold her clothes, books and other treasures. But, back to the task at hand...dinner!