Imagine my surprise when I was doing yoga this morning and I looked up in cobra pose and there it was. Blue sky! Oh, there were plenty of clouds around the patches of blue and soon enough the clouds got the upper hand and slammed shut for the rest of the day, but there it was all blue and promising. Just for a few minutes but it gave me hope that we'd have more of it and soon. Our last sunny day was January 21, we're about due.
31 January--Barbara Malcolm, Three Cheers for Murder.
Marlene was happy she’d
straightened up the living room before she’d gone downstairs to work that
morning. She invited Len to take a seat
and went to the kitchen to make coffee.
While it was brewing, she returned to the living room to find him
admiring the framed botanical specimens and archeological artifacts on her
walls.
“This stuff is great. Where did you get it?” he asked.
“The leaves, plants and flowers I
either grew in the window boxes or collected in Arizona one summer about eight
years ago. I’m glad you like it.” She left the room to get the coffee and cups.
“How do you take your coffee, Len?”
“Just black.” Returning with the tray she set it on a low
table and poured him a cup.
“Thanks. Smells great,” he sat in
one of the side-chairs near the table.
“So, tell me, have you always wanted to own a bookstore? I’ll bet it’s an interesting job.”
Marlene seated herself at one end
of the couch across from him and sipped her coffee. “Actually, I wanted to be an archeologist,
but my mother died in a car accident in the winter almost nine years ago and to
stay in college I had to keep the store running. The years passed and I felt I couldn’t pursue
my dreams of going on archeological digs and still support myself, so I
switched my major to literature and just stayed here. What about you? Do you like being a policeman?”
“I had other dreams too. I went to the university to study law, but I
just couldn’t handle the stress, so I switched to law enforcement. My parents weren’t, and still aren’t,
thrilled but I guess I like it.”
Gazing into her cup Marlene
commented, “Sounds like we had the same kind of parents. Kitty always encouraged me to be more like
her and those self-centered cheerleaders she coached. Always buying trendy clothes and makeup for
me, always ordering books to make me more like her. Never happy with me the way I was. It was hard growing up in that sort of
environment.” She looked at him and he could
see she had tears in her eyes.
Len put down his coffee and moved
to sit beside her on the couch. Holding
her right hand in his, he tried to comfort her.
“Oh, Marlene, don’t cry. I know
how you feel. My dad’s a big executive
and he wanted me to be a lawyer so he could brag about me to his friends. Mom’s all involved in her charity work and
would have talked endlessly about “my son, the lawyer.” It was a bitter pill for them to swallow when
I couldn’t hack law school and decided to become a cop. I think I took the job here in Ashville just
so I wouldn’t have to see the look of disappointment in their faces every time
they see me.”
This pair of sparrows came to bathe while I was eating lunch. See how gray and dreary it had gotten? People can't live like this. Okay, I can't live like this. I need sunshine. They're threatening us with a sunny Sunday and maybe Monday too. Oh, fingers crossed.--Barbara
1 comment:
I agree the sparrow picture is pretty depressing. Definitely time for a bit of a break in sunny South Florida. Until you get here, just keep looking at that colorful dress you made. It's like sunshine on a cloudy day.
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