My Secret Place

Week One: obervations

Faint outlines of soaring birds through the foliage above

The off-and-on sound of chirping cicadas

A cool breeze whips up an already cool morning

Sheets of light grey clouds move the rain of yesterday away, revealing a pale blue sky

The squirrel at the base of the tree behind me does not seem happy to have a guest

The grass, trees, bushes are green with only the faintest hint here and there of a light yellow creeping into the leaves

I see Anne walking to the gym, a few voices break my musings as they make the trip to breakfast

People may see me but they seem to pay my presence little mind- I am much more awake of them- I feel miscible

Suddenly a hawk is almost crashing through the tree branches, halting only momentarily on a branch before leaping back off, back into the sky

The sound of a truck, the peripheral view of the Pepsi logo catches my attention to the right

Overall though, the sounds of humanity are muffled here at this “early” hour

Here is the sun, reaching me through the clouds and leaves

The hawk flies back the other way as birds croak the alarm from tree to tree

I am a passive observer but I feel less intrusive than when I was walking

Groundskeepers are here, picking up the downed branches from the rain and wind of last night

The effects of nature are being tidied up, the manicured paths returning from beneath the ruble

The siren of an emergency vehicle is growing fainter

The sun has retreated again- the clear sky has more work yet to be done in pushing the clouds away

The morning chill reaches me through my sweatshirt, my effort to separate myself insufficient

Turning around I see that my attention to the clearing skies of the NW brought me no indication of the still grey skies of the SE (though the only fleeting moment of sunlight should have been my cue)

Though I grew up on this coast, now there are mornings where I distinctly feel the absence of the Olympics and Cascades, framing the morning sky

A leaf blower signals that my time here is up

All the individual pieces here weave into one time, one experience

It can be told in parts, yes, but it all passes into the one expanse of us, our history

I feel calm

A good way to start the day