Another Favorite Ordinary Day

On loving what is here, right now.

I sit in our living room in the big leather chair while “cozy background gentle music” plays through the television on Spotify. Both dogs are with me, coming closer with each flash of lightning and clap of thunder.

We are in that part of summer here in Colorado where the mornings are delightfully tempered, midday is hot, dry, and unforgiving. Then afternoons bring a performance of rain sheets.

We spent more time decluttering this weekend. A few hours spent sifting through a section of shelves in the garage that has been filled with unused items since we moved in. The previous owners, we assume, thought it generous to leave many gallons of miscellaneous paint, among other pesticides and dried tubes of caulking.

It took longer than I thought it would, and I still have to figure out a system to catalog the paints we actually want to keep.

I vacuumed the entryway from the garage into the house and we wiped down the white shelves before putting back what belonged. A fraction of what was there before. What we hoped would be a couple of hours spent on decluttering the whole garage was spent only on this handful of shelves.

We drove to the donation center and saw “our friend” - the girl who wears thick black eyeliner and cool graphic t-shirts under her work vest. As we left, I told her we’d see her again soon. She doesn't know I’m on a mission to declutter our whole house and will see her often.

We stopped for lunch at the Mediterranean restaurant near our house and agreed about how well it “hit the spot.”

Our favorite ice cream place opened a drive through in our area, so we stopped there to taste two new flavors saying “mmmm, that’s good” about each one, knowing all along we’d just bring home a pint of mint chocolate chip.

When we got home, we told the dogs how much we’d missed them. I took a long and hot shower, washing all the dirt, sweat, and garage dust from me, and pulling my wet hair up into a twist before spending extra time applying lotion to this body I am grateful for.

Michael took a nap on the floor in our bedroom before showering. Tonight we’ll eat leftovers for dinner and sit close together on the couch while we watch something stupid. When I laugh especially hard at certain parts, Michael will rewind it for me so we can experience it again. And sometimes again after that. Soaking every last giggle out of a scene that tickles us.

I’ll scoop the mint chocolate chip ice cream into two bowls -his will be blue, and mine will be yellow. We’ll look at each other smiling, grateful we stopped to pick up the pint.

We’ll let the dogs go out to potty once more, noticing the thick moisture the rain has brought to the air, and how the ground and the plants and the whole world feel and smell different having been washed in the rain.

All four of us will make our way up to bed, Tula first, then me, Jeffrey taking his time on the stairs, and finally Michael, having locked all the doors and turned on all the outdoor lights.

We’ll brush our teeth and tuck the dogs into wherever in our bedroom they claim as their sleeping place for the night. We’ll each turn on our reading lamps, clipped to the books we’re chewing through right now.

Michael will fall asleep very quickly while I read next to him. I’ll finish my cup of melatonin tea, then wake him up to drink his too. I’ll turn my reading light off, place the book on my nightstand and turn over on my right side.

I’ll listen closely to the skylights, hoping the rain has returned to accompany us to bed.

And then I’ll fall asleep thinking about how this very ordinary Saturday is another one of my favorite days in this life.

Could you use some time carved out just for rest? Just to receive, relax, be poured into, and re-center before your week? There is still space in August’s Seasonal Self, and we’d love to have you.

All you have to do to join is register through Venmo, $25 to @Jesie-Steffes. Be sure to include our email address so I can send you the zoom link.