Something's Missing...

I got up this morning, made some coffee, and sat down to wrap up chapter 14, which should be done soon. (But the battery on my laptop died and something is wrong with the plug so I'll have to resume at the desktop later on.) Meanwhile, Julie began a morning aerobic workout in the family room with the help of Bob Harper (No, we are not "Biggest Loser" fans--never watch the show--but we like Bob Harper's friendly motivational workout on the cable fitness channel.) I joined her in that sweaty endeavor 'til our heart rates were high and the clothes were damp, and thankfully the session was over. Ahh....

During the "cool down" I stood with my arms on my hips looking out the patio window (photo one). That lump in the lower-left is a rock fountain covered with a tarp that is covered with a foot of snow. The little maple behind it has white miniature lights in it, but they're not on. They've been there since the evening "garden parties" we had for both Emily's and Kim's graduation open houses. We light them up whenever we have evening gatherings out back--those are many months away.

I noticed something else in this picture and went upstairs to the living room (or parlor, as I've called it past posts), and sure enough I noticed the same fact while looking at our yard from this angle. (Photo two: That's the camper in the far corner of our yard parked in front of the covered trampoline. The lamp is an heirloom from Mom's living room. Just beyond it is the winged-back recliner where I was writing when my battery died.)
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So I went to the front porch to see it what I saw (or didn't see) was true there as well, and "Sure enough," I thought with my mouth pursed off to one side. It was true everywhere I looked.

I wasn't looking at the vacant lot (the only lot without a house on it in the whole development). I wasn't looking at the broken split-rail fence that adds a nice touch to the tree line and always reminds me of Robert Frost's "Mending Wall." I wasn't looking at the drooping antler on the grape-vine deer standing under the canopied bush. (Those deer have served us well for many years, but they may just have to go come spring.)
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What I was looking for was something else. Something that for most of our life with children was always true whenever we had a foot of snow on the ground for a solid month.

Before Em was married, before Kim went off to Chicago, before little Nat grew up and became a cheerleader at school. Back when we were all at home after 4:00PM most nights. Back when we were all hoping that the next batch of falling snow would be enough to cancel school. What I was looking for was always there before, for twenty playful years or more, but now (thus far) it isn't so. How strange to be this deep in winter without footprints in the snow.
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Chapter 14 coming...