Not My Ducks

These are not my ducks.
It's been miserable here for days with lots of wet snow,
so I haven't gone down to the ponds along Piney Creek
to look for mallards or other living things.

Not My Ducks

May 31, 2014

Today was raw with a mixture of rain and fog
that quickly deteriorated into snow and sleet.
Not the best day to venture out ~ but we needed milk.

My virus protocols crashed when I exited the store into driving sleet.
My dishtowel "mask" forced my breath up, fogging my glasses,
and I skated blindly across the parking lot clutching the grocery cart for dear life.
And let me tell you, latex gloves do not keep the cold out
when your hands are pelted with sleet.
Off with the mask. Off with the gloves. Virus be damned.

I am so ready to feast my eyes on living green and colorful flowers.

One Perfect Rose

May 31, 2014

I had a grocery processing station set up in our garage:

Clorox wipes and the top of an old desk covered with towels.

My plan was to disinfect things that had to go into the fridge

and leave everything else on the desk for 24 hours.

I'd hand the wiped fridge items to Terry,
strip off my clothes in the laundry room,

toss them in the washer, and race for the shower.

Ha! I was sleet-soaked from hacking the ice off my car's

windshield and windows in the grocery store parking lot,

frazzled from sliding home in first gear, down hill and up,

and frozen stiff before I unloaded half my ice-sheathed vehicle.

It was way too cold to disinfect groceries in the garage,
let alone leave some there overnight.

I fled for the coffee pot in the kitchen and poured a steaming cup.

A Soothing Spring Green

May 31, 2014

Later, when everything was sorted out and I snug in a robe after a long, hot shower,
I sipped more coffee, and escaped into springtime Hyde Park.
If I can't go to my special place right now, I'll visit another in my mind.

The weather will warm up, the snow will melt, and I can get back to my ducks.
Until then, I'll think of an English May filled with flowers and greenery.