...and the Sky is Gray

It is a gray drizzly day in my neck of the woods. On top of that it is Monday, and now that Thanksgiving is over the weeks until Christmas offer a no-man’s-land of dark afternoons, bad traffic, empty trees and a restless dog.

I absolutely felt a dark mood coming on after work today and, thankfully, was able to spur myself on a fast-paced 3 ½ mile walk with Booker. He had gone without a walk for three days, and I had no choice on the pace of the walk, we were going fast regardless if I wanted to or not.

That was alright with me. By the time we got to the top of the Moravian graveyard I was panting hard. I was trying to get rid of a prevailing train-of-thought and get a little peace of mind today. I can’t say if it worked entirely, but by the time I got home I was determined to make my house warm and inviting instead of dark, dingy and depressing.

I put on Son Volt’s The Search, and while the first track always drives me to despair (probably because it reminds me of my current situation), the rest of the album is incredibly upbeat, especially for this band. So I started cleaning.

I straightened the living room, but the kitchen isn’t in that bad shape, I just need to toss the remaining Thanksgiving leftovers and clean the pans. I have to admit, I’m procrastinating on that one.

Here’s a funny one about the leftovers. On Friday I was getting prepared to make a meal of the leftover turkey. I pulled the pecan pie out and made a turkey sandwich. Then, after I was finished, I went to the store down the street to get some batteries. I was gone for five minutes. When I got back there was an empty pie-pan and a very satisfied looking Booker sitting on the living room carpet. He had eaten an entire pecan pie in five minutes! I suppose he deserved it though, he had to spend all of Thanksgiving cooped up in the house. But still, I really wanted that pecan pie.

Back to this afternoon. As I was cleaning up the living room, I started opening mail. I picked up a letter from my insurance company. Since the premium isn’t due until next month I thought that this must be a promotion of some sort and I almost put it in the junk mail pile. But I opened it for some reason.

It said that I had won $125! And it is legitimate too. They do a grand drawing every month of those who pay their premiums on time. This is one bill I’ve managed to do that with. So I was the grand prize winner this month. Man, am I glad I decided to clean up the living room and not throw away that letter.

Jefferson said something about luck didn’t he? The harder you work the more luck you have. I’m starting to believe that this is true.

I guess I’m superficial but nothing can turn a potentially dark day into something grand like a little windfall like this. I started whooping and Booker did his I’m happy but I have no idea why dance--complete with super-sonic wag-tail and everything. It’s only $125, and it is probably already spent, but it just made my day.