Huge waves of frustration with the world at large; which in turn became ugly red anger. Such a waste of emotion – anger.
I awoke to a cold and wet, gray day. Finally, a Saturday in the late Fall to revel in the outdoors, even chores like putting away the hoses and lawn furniture would be enjoyable, were it not 42°s and dark. The list of errands was endless but I stayed home and waited for my noon beekeeping appointment passing the time by installing the snow stakes. That is one ritual of this season that always saddens me. The contours of the land will disappear and meld into banks of white. Snow stakes guide the plow and snow-blower when the drive and walkway are no longer obvious. The weather was too cold and rainy to go into the hives, and had my phone been working, I would have known the appointment was rescheduled. At least I got the screens put away and the hoses rolled up for the winter.
Early afternoon I raced off down the road to make my rounds of shopping. It wasn’t looking like I would get to the barn for a ride; a somber thought but one I pushed from the pile of frustration before me. The news wasn’t much better when I came home. Someone had been sick on the living room carpet and someone else had walked through it. Chasing my tail against the retreating daylight, I climbed to my loft only to discover I had forgotten to put up the gate. Alice had spent the afternoon finishing off every morsel of cat food then moved on the “cleaning” the litter box. Why do I have pets? That would explain the mess on the carpet. As my head pounded I realized too, that I hadn’t taken the time to eat all day.
“All I’m doing is cleaning up shit I didn’t cause!!”
First came the tears. I sat on the kitchen floor hugging Alice and apologizing for my ill temper. A glance at the dog’s water bowl made me giggle. Alice had already been punished by the cement of the litter and had tried to hide the evidence by washing her mouth out in the bowl. Then I sat and wrote. And wrote. And sat up a little straighter and shook my shoulders back. Tonight I will have an extra hour of sleep. Daylight savings shifts the world into shortening hours of light and the need to pull back and hunker down. It will be lighter when I awake. A new month and another step forward.
Therapeutic Misadventures 
Silly beasties….what would we do without them? Snow stakes you say? Gads….there’s a thought I have never had, Ms. Bunyan, you never cease to amaze me.
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I do not miss having cats AND dogs. Yes, the cleaning of the litter for you – perhaps they think they are doing us a favor? I dislike changing the clocks immensely! All it means to me is that I awake a 3 am instead of 4 am.
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Ah, but the beauty of New England is if you don’t like a season, it will soon change! I will never understand the draw of cat litter as a snack…just gross!
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That sunset sure was beautiful! I hope it made up for the bad day.
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In the end, you give up the frustration and just enjoy the day, right?
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I’m not the only person who succumbs to anger born of frustration? It’s my ugliest personal trait and though I vow to act with more grace going forward, time and time again I find myself caught up in little dramas (of no import whatsoever) of my own doing.
Sigh.
All one can do is vow to try and try again…
Beautiful sky — I find myself more and more enamored of what’s overhead than I ever was before. Why have I not paid attention to clouds, sky and weather more until now? No matter for I appreciate a good sky every time I see one!
Great post Martha. Here’s to a calm, stressful week, month, holiday season, life and lifetime!
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Oops! I meant to say stress-free, not stressful… 🙂
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🙂 I knew what you were saying! What a waste, right? But we all do it, no matter how much we work at stress-free lives. I think admitting it and moving on is human. Thanks Julie for stopping by, I look forward to hearing from you and love reading you too!
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What a frustrating day. Animals do the strangest things. When I was young we had a dog, Norton. As a puppy, when he’d done something wrong he’d hide under the sofa to avoid being told off. He grew into a very large dog but he never stooped hiding under the sofa when he was in trouble. It used to make us laugh because only his head would fit so his great big body would still be sticking out. What a lovely sky you had. I’m sure that made you feel much better.
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Silly dog! Love the name Norton, too.
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He was named after my favourite motorbike.
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Reblogged this on uvirfarms.
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