Life Ain't Bad

I awake feeling grateful the moon didn't tumble into the oceans while I slept. I'm grateful for the sun, which sits in a sky that didn't fall during the night. I feel grateful at the safekeeping of the entire universe.

I saunter down the steps, open the front door and find the birds chirping, flowers blooming, trees still rooted in the ground and the right amount of oxygen in the air to keep us all alive. I walk to the kitchen sink to fill the coffee pot, and notice through the pane the buildings in the distance appear in tact and standing tall. I can tell it's going to be a good day.

My son arrives at the breakfast bar famished. I watch him attack his food as if he hadn't eaten in days while I pack his lunch and glance out at the deck. The menace squirrel scurries around looking for the tall leaf bags he tore into for days. His partner in crime digs in my fresh-mulched flowerbed until a robin chases them off. The neighbor's dog yaps and yaps and yaps.

My boy' s departing hug lingers long after he steps off the front stoop, moseys down the walk and disappears around the corner. I pray for his safekeeping. The neighbor boy walks his dog across the grassy mound and vanishes leaving the canine traces behind. I frown. A middle school girl in high-heeled clodhoppers with an odd gait ambles down the middle of the street.

Husband meets me at the bottom of the stairs in his warm smile and I bask in our quiet time together before he leaves for the office. Everything seems normal in a regular like kind of way. The best part of waking from a bad dream: realizing life is good.