Quiet House

It's 9:00 on a Saturday (but am, so no regular crowd trickles in). Our house is completely, blissfully, quiet. The only sound is the occasional grunting sigh emitted from a sleeping Basset Hound.

wifey's in Gainesville with D1, and D2 is sleeping. When D2 was 4 or 5, she'd listen to Wifey complain about the hustle and bustle, and announce "I'm STRETCHED out, too." Well of course that's now entered our family's lexicon, and poor D2 HAS been stretched out with school work and college applications. She went out last night, happily, and is fast asleep. I'm betting she'll be up around the crack of 2 pm.

I just got off the phone with Wifey's friend Cara. Her husband Jack, in his 70s but with the heart and attitude of a man younger than I am, is in ICU, suffering from the complications of a surgery he had following a fall at his house. Care adores this man, and she shared her pain with me. I'm hoping Jack recovers soon, so that the 4 of us can meet and have a celebratory toast, even though Cara and I are the only drinkers in the foursome.

Speaking of drinking --I may do just a little tonight. My Canes have their biggest home game in years, against the Oklahoma Sooners, and I may partake of a Stoli or 2 to heighten the happiness, and also to let off some of the anxiety I've stored up since D1's crash.

Still, I look forward to a glorious Saturday. I'll hit the Home Depot for a new weed killing product I've read about, which is supposed to work for a whole year. Every few months I have to traverse our gravel driveway to keep it from becoming a jungle path. Maybe this new concoction will make for less work.

Then, nothing more than a little more TV college football, before D2 and I head for the game in the evening.

Once again I think of Tom Petty's great lullaby, and it's most realistic refrain: "We're all right...for now."