The Perfect Night
|I am sitting by the lake on a bench that my parents gave me, now rusted and covered with lichen. Everyone around the lake path knows this bench and it is a landmark. The sky is clear and the moon is barely a sliver so the planets and stars are shining above me with great brilliance. The air is warm and there is a slight breeze ruffling the leaves in the trees and on the ground. I used to call Natalie from this bench when she lived in Arizona and tonight I called Crim and made her listen to the owl that was in the distance. She said she heard it. I wish someone was down here with me, not to talk, but just to feel the peace. I even started thinking that if I knew I was going to die tonight, I would plant myself on this bench and make room for my family then wait for my dad and grandma to come and get me. I have no plans for that to happen but that’s just how perfect it is. I am having one of those cleansing cries that must be the release of tension and probably some old lady hormone changes too. Maybe since Andrew visited the University of Michigan, I started to think I am almost done as a mom and I hope, for the most part, I was helpful. How lucky I have been to live in a place where I don’t have to lock my doors all of the time and I can be here right now, safe and all by myself. Mark can make me furious but he has been good and he has given us a great house, travel, debt-free college education, and at times, even some laughs because he is sooo dad. He has mellowed with age and I know he will be a wonderful grandfather someday. Anyway, I just did realize that they haven’t caught the black bear that has been wandering around in the neighborhood and maybe he will come down for a drink in the lake. That would make for an interesting end to this perfect night.
See I told you things DO go bump in the night. A black bear isn’t Freddy Krueger or bigfoot but it can do the same kind of damage. Although I do believe your dogs presence would probably be enough to warn you so you could run away but not without falling a few times first (just like all good horror films). You get to your door and close it just before the bear takes a swipe at you. THEN you realize you forgot about the dogs being locked outside with the bear you think your going to save the day and rescue the dogs. Bad decision, the bear takes a couple of swipes at you and the dogs react by jumping the bear, he backs away swinging at the dogs, gets too close to the edge and goes over with the dogs still going at him. End of story. Legend of Boogey Creek meets Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Clever combination of horror film at it’s best combined with the Christmas genre. Yes Yukon went down with the Abominable Snowman. Did you know I have Abominable Snowman socks and I wore them went I went out on Friday night? It’s barely Halloween but they were calling to me! Perhaps that is an example of a QueenAnntic!