A day just like today

I have longed for this day. Days just like today happen so infrequently in my "blissful world of retirement." I'm borrowing this morning from John Denver's best-ever song (which I have coined "Annie's Song" because John was singing it on KSPT on sunny October morning when Bill and I brought our little "Precious" home from the hospital).

John Denver's and Annie's "Day Just Like Today" had sunshine. Mine does not. So far, that is. We have had snow, yes. Beneath the gray, billowy cloud hovering over the mountain west of the house, I can see a patch of light blue sky. So, maybe, after what's become Mother Nature's regular morning bowl movement, the "Day Just Like Today" will fulfill John Denver's wish.

For now, I'm satisfied. I love this day because it is my own. The next big magazine deadline is a month away, so a 24-hour respite from interviewing won't put me too far behind schedule. My column for next week is mostly written----in my head, that is. Some of it has yet to unfold, but the majority of it took place yesterday and 30-plus years ago and maybe even further back than that. We'll see.

So, I'm free today. Once the barn chores are complete, I can choose any direction I want in deciding what to do with this day. At this time, I don't have the arrow pointed anywhere in particular.

Here's what could happen. Several trips to the greenhouse to see if my garden continues to grow. Some rake duty, cleaning up the new patches of lawn emerging from beneath their blankets of disappearing snow. A visit with Mother and a brother who's here from Western Washington this week. Maybe a bike ride, and maybe even no dirty rear end while riding the little section of our dirt road to Selle's paved but bumpy stretch.

I might even put my bike rack on the car and take the bike to town where I should be guaranteed plenty of dry, hard surface for pedaling. If I do that, the trip may include the museum to pick up some photos that Ann, the curator, discovered among the Peterson collection.

Chuck Peterson was renowned in this area for his photography and his historical knowledge, all collected and meticulously organized---much of it gleaned while he was working for the U.S. Forest Service.

The other day, Ann ran across four photos, donated to Chuck's collection by the Racicots. They're labeled "Tibbs and Toby." I'm figuring they might be pictures of my dad and his Appaloosa stallion that we may never have seen. So, I'm going to pick them up, take them to the Image Maker and have them printed. The knowledge that they exist makes me feel like there's a nice surprise in store. I guess I won't know, though, until I see them.

I'm sure some of the day will be spent sputtering at dogs and horses as they continue their mundane activities. I haven't decided yet whether it's the horses or the dogs who initiate the tormenting across the fence. Kiwi has trained Kea to have "the eye" everyone talks about whenever the subject of Border Collies comes up.

Now, they work full day shifts at the fence, watching every move and breath taken by Lily and Lefty. When Lily and Lefty get bored from eating, they mosey on over to the fence and break some unexplained Border Collie rules. I haven't quite figured out what the infractions happen to be, but several times a day I hear barking chastisement going on at the barnyard.

Occasionally, I'll go out to see what's up. "What's up" usually involves horses with noses to the ground and dogs on the other side of the fence leaping and barking stern reminders to those naughty nags. The discipline appears to have no effect because the horses continue their stances, regardless of how emphatic the barking gets.

I love watching the interaction, and I figure as long as the horses are keeping the dogs occupied, my yard is safe from dug-up holes or chewed up sticks.

Well, this "Day Just Like Today" is slipping away, and that pale blue patch of sky has now increased at least five-fold. So, maybe the blessed "Sunshine" that John Denver so eloquently sings of will join the unknown pleasures I'm looking forward to living on this April 10, 2008.

May you all have a "Day Just Like Today."