In the dark I sit on the edge of my bed and slowly unfold into a stand. I feel like the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz” — without oil.
I wait for a second. How’s the left knee today? Will it hold while I take a giant step over the large golden dog sprawled by my bed? I slip on floppy, fuzzy slippers and shuffle to the kitchen, listen to the grumble of the Keurig telling me I can now press for coffee. Justy, with his almond eyes, is staring at me. “Don’t worry,” I croon in my talk-to-the-dog voice, “breakfast is coming.” The noise of kibble falling into his metal bowl is too loud. Don’t want to wake my grandson Holden, snuggled in the guest room, which is his room on weekends. The Keurig gives its last gasp. Coffee ready.
I am nestled in my spot on the end of the sofa with a view of my garden. I sort the papers putting the New York Times first, sip my coffee and begin with Sunday Review. There is an article about a man on an airplane who developed a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop. He wound up with two tampons stuck up his nose, strings dangling, for the rest of the flight. He was able to give a thumbs up to the smirking ambulance attendants who met the plane. Not the most auspicious of arrivals, but at least he had a sense of humor and it was good for a laugh.
The rest of the paper isn’t funny. It is filled with articles about the buffoon in the White House — not the current one, but the former guy —who used to be laughable. He once sued Bill Maher of “Politically Incorrect” fame for a million bucks because Maher suggested the buffoon had been sired by a large, orange orangutan. Maher swears the buffoon sent him his birth certificate to prove otherwise. Ha! Ha! Now he’s frightening in his media-savvy craziness. What horror has he unleashed on our country and the world today?
I begin to rant out loud. “How can an entire political party, the party of Lincoln, as they like to call themselves, let it be OK that we have a dangerous lunatic running the country?” Justy gets up from his nest by my feet, puts his furry head in my lap and looks at me with worried eyes — have I done something wrong? “No, no I’m not talking to you, Justy.”
I pet him and hug him. “Don’t look so worried. “Calm down, calm down,” I say soothingly. “I’m OK, really I am.”
As I stroke Justy’s soft ears I stare outside. The garden gradually comes into focus. Fountains sparkle in the morning sun, squirrels commute along the top of the fence, then chase each other around the trunk of the Siberian pine several times, just for fun, then dangle upside down like gymnasts on the squirrel-proof bird feeder, and finally launch into the privets. Yellow finches, grey titmouses and dark eyed juncos flutter around the see-through feeder stuck to the window, vying for a turn. A hummingbird sits in air, needle beak deep inside purple salvia. My Apple watch tells me to breath.
I hear small bare feet of the next generation padding down the hall.
“Hi Mimi. Are we going to read the funny papers?”
Holden gets his chocolate milk and cozies up next to me. I wrap my arm around him and kiss him on the top of his head. He starts with Peanuts, his soft child’s voice as soothing as a caress.
Now, I really am OK.
Anne Sisler Latta is San Rafael resident. IJ readers are invited to share their stories of love, dating, parenting, marriage, friendship and other experiences for our How It Is column, which runs Tuesdays in the Lifestyles section. All stories must not have been published in part or in its entirety previously. Send your stories of no more than 600 words to lifestyles@marinij.com. Please write How It Is in the subject line. The IJ reserves the right to edit them for publication. Please include your full name, address and a daytime phone number.
