When the alarm went off this morning, my body jerked awake, startled. My dreaming had been so deep and thrilling. Populated with so many characters, places, colors, and a babble of language and unfinished thoughts, and then?consciousness and reality arrived. Ouch. My warm little smooth haired miniature dachshund Sisi nestled in the curve of my bent knees warm as toast under the covers.

For years and years, a duvet and a top sheet have been my only “blanket.” But for Christmas I received such a pretty blue velvet coverlet, and my room is so cold since it sits at the north end of the house. Therefore the new quilt is also laid across the bed. This extra layer makes the entire “bedclothes” weigh quite a lot. When trying to get out from under all the linens, by pushing my arm back at an angle it is hard to extricate myself. Today like most mornings, my larger, heavier dachshund, Magnus, (24lbs) sleeps crosswise in the middle of the bed outside of the covers. So I had to lift him as well as all those covers with a backhand gesture which made me feel incredibly weak. But I persisted and raised myself to sit on the side of the bed, then stood uncertainly on the blue carpeted floor. All the dogs stayed still in the bed. It was early, and they knew it. It was time for Pilates.

In Mid-December, a new Pilates studio opened up only two blocks away from my house. If I were a better person (or if it was warmer), I could walk to it. Not being that pure, I compensate by going to the 7 am class on Wednesdays and Thursdays. That makes me feel great for the entire day. And not only do my muscles thank me, but my mind acknowledges the virtuousness in this early morning effort.

The studio is blue. The light is blue, the walls are blue, and I am a blue girl. I love it there. Having signed up for unlimited classes, I go four times a week. And I hope that when I become just a bit stronger, I will step it up and go more often. It is such good exercise for someone like me who is no longer young and carrying a lot of extra weight. It won’t take off the pounds by itself, but being more fit will make me conscious of what I eat. And muscle burns more calories than fat. It is fun, and today my body was sore from yesterday when I went in, but by the end of the class, it felt strong and restored. It is such a good thing to take an early class or swim early or jog first thing in the day. By 8 o’clock, I was home having a cup of coffee in the pantry and reading Carolyn Hax (whom I have been reading for years!) in the Washington Post.

Soon, sitting at the computer, conversations began on Facebook. Some seriously scary for me because I am a supporter of the President. My Liberal friends want to get him out of office any way they can. They don’t care if it is fair or right or dangerous. They just want it done. The say they are afraid of what he may do. But I was constantly afraid of what the previous President was doing, and yet I waited, knowing we could vote him out eventually.

We were angry when Obama tried to give away our country, bowed to kings, and never stood firm on his “red line.” He was a subversive anti-American with a winning smile and a nice looking family. He was so dangerous, and they all fell for it. That is why we elected Donald Trump. He was the antidote to the poison that has been spread by the Liberal ‘One World Order,’ anti-religion, no moral values, and break up of the family type people who you are now defending.

Is that really what you believe you want for our country? Obama had everyone fooled. I wish him gone like most ex-presidents, but he is still hanging around Washington, D.C. He is still trying to interfere in the government in a subversive way.

But my days are not filled with these thoughts. They are golden and full of affection from the dogs, calls, and texts from my children and grandchildren. As my fingers fly across the keyboard, my mind wanders at times to the photos and small objects here in the Garden Room, where my desktop computer sits. There are probably 100 within sight. There is a sepia picture of my grandparents when they were courting in 1917. a few really old shots are of interest to guests who have not seen them. They include a photo of my mother as a child with her grandmother. And a couple of us children when we were small and still part of our own nuclear family. Mother’s enlarged formal wedding photograph is sitting in the window with others equally “blown up” for her entertainment. One shows her dancing surrounded by black-tied men and with a formal satin gown, but kicking one stockinged leg high in the air. She loved that picture. White lilies in a vase on the blue mosaic topped coffee table contrast beautifully against the fully open blooms. The scent of the flowers evokes my mother.

The rooflines of Underoak, uneven and eclectic break up under my gaze. The blues, greys, and deep purples of the rectangles overlap in perfect, orderly disorder up and down the steep roof over the garage and the little cupola at the top. The sloping roof we used to climb upon which reaches from two feet off of the ground to the top of the kitchen wing is most unusual. My favorite part of the entire structure, but it is only part of the show. The peaked roof of the separate attic over the kitchen vies with the little three paned dormer window to nowhere high in the roofline and just under a brick chimney.

To be continued?

Copyright?. 2020 Bonnie B. Matheson