It is around 4 o’clock in the evening on the first Sunday of 2021. Brainy Bird is still working on his research paper for a scholarship that he is applying to. Little Chirp spent most of the day playing basketball, and then he helped me take down the Christmas decoration. After that, Little Chirp did all of Brainy Bird’s chores.
I am sitting on the back porch, relaxing for the first time in a don’t know when. I am not sure where all of the squirrels are. Maybe the neighbors’ blaring music is keeping them away. I would prefer quiet, but it his hard not to like a little James Brown on a Sunday afternoon. My pool pump running at high speed is also disrupting my peaceful backyard. Tomorrow, we get our new pool cleaner. Our Polaris has gone caput. I put off replacing it as long as humanly possible. We are still watching a finances carefully and will be for a long time.
Despite all of the noise, I am enjoying my backyard time. The mosquito system is definitely working again. The sunlight filtering through the trees makes me happy, and the grass is still green. Pumpkine was running along the fence line, and now she is laying in the swing in the middle of the backyard. She likes that swing.
The temperature has started to drop, and so has the volume of my neighbors’ music. The pool pump has stopped, and the backyard is truly peaceful. Pumpkine just leapt from the swing and ran to the table where her dinner is usually served. There is something comforting about the way the swing continues to sway back and forth from the forces of her jump out of it.
I am about to go inside to start Little Chirp’s Thai basil chicken. We will enjoy family game night after that. I am hoping to convince the crew to have game night on the back porch. My backyard is one of my favorite places on Earth.
The first full work week of the year begins tomorrow. I wonder what 2021 will bring. My anticipation of this year is greater than any year that has past. So much is in store for our little family. I hope for many more days on my back porch. I hope for many more special days with my Birds before Brainy Bird goes off to college. I hope that Little Chirp and I will find our daily routines and special things to do together when Brainy Bird is away at school. I hope for more time with my friends, and another amazing year with the company that I love working for.
I admit that I am cautious with my optimism after all that happened in 2020. Still, I cannot help but be excited about the days to come.
Welcome 2021! I hope that we can make beautiful memories together.