A Cold Rush Then Light

It’s Tuesday morning and frankly I’d prefer to stay right here in this bed. But being my mom’s caretaker most mornings gives me a reason to get up. For months now, that’s been my primary purpose.

The first thing I notice is the hot air whooshing loudly out of the heat vent in our bedroom. I brush my teeth, stick some deodorant on my armpits, pull some water through my hair, and tug on some jeans, a tee, and a fleece. I kiss my beloved who is also clinging to his last threads of sleep, tiptoe out the door, and pad my bare feet along the carpet of the upstairs hallway. Before caretaking, I need coffee.

More whooshing sounds pour from the heat vents. I’m a little perplexed. Is it that cold in this house? Our heater seems to think so.

I head toward the stairs and gently land on each step because I know my knee is still frozen and bound to complain. I turn at the landing and suddenly am hit in my midsection by cold air tumbling past me and downward like an invisible river undertow.

This is nonsensical. I wonder where the cold could be coming from. Have the vents gone from blowing heat to air conditioning? I turn the corner again and see my answer: Our front door is thrown wide open.

I’m annoyed. Snap a picture. Text our son who left for work at least fifteen or twenty minutes ago and must have been in a rush. I pad down the stairs, shut the door, head across the tiles into the kitchen, find some wool slippers along the way, all the while scanning the floor for lizards, feral cats, large spiders, and other neighborhood critters who may have felt invited inside on this chilly morning.

But then I look at the scene again.

Annoyance turns to gratitude as I reframe. Nothing less than the sun itself came to open my awareness this morning.

xo

🤗 Here’s a hug for all the night owls who cling to their sheets and blankets a little longer than the early birds.

🤗 🤗 Here’s another hug for those making meaning amid struggle and bleakness. I see you. Gratitude for the things we HAVE can help us handle the hard times because what we train our awareness on is in fact what we attract and what we see.

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