Another Big 6-0

Yesterday was truly an extraordinary day in this little girl’s life.

The day began in an ordinary way, but soon began to show itself as a day that would be different from the run-of-the-mill variety. Routine tasks took on a new look as I made my way through the day, and the way the day ended was truly extraordinary.

To begin the day was jelly making. I had two quarts of wild plum juice in the refrigerator ready for cooking and a gallon of the sweet fruit needing to be cooked for the juice to be filtered out of the pulp. In a couple of hours, the job was completed – I had twenty jars of clear, sweet jelly in jars, and I was listening for the familiar pop of the lids to tell me that everything was sealed and ready to share with friends and family. One of the things that made this task extraordinary was the Rocket Man Kitty. Little Rocky played at my feet the entire time, never leaving the rug in front of the stove until the jelly was made, the pots were cleaned, and the counters were wiped off. It seemed as if he had taken over Big Tom Cat’s job of supervising the jelly making process, and I felt Mama’s presence with me in the body of my little cat making sure I made jelly the way she taught me.

After jelly making, I went out to the garden to weed. I was amazed at the growth of the squash, beans, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The rain the night before was like a magic potion to my garden. It looked as if everything had doubled in size since Friday, including the weeds! I marveled at the number of squash, cucumbers and tomatoes now almost at picking size, and thoughts of a road-side vegetable stand out in front of the house began to form in my brain. We are going to have more than we can possibly eat ourselves.

At lunchtime, I spent some quality time on the deck eating my lunch and doing some serious cloud gazing. The air was clear from the rain, the sky was the bluest blue, and the clouds were the white puffy ones that drift across the sky forming the most wonderful shapes. For a little while I was lost in my own thoughts as I let my mind drift along with the clouds to the music of the breeze blowing through the pine trees.

If nothing else had happened in this day I would have been satisfied, but the best was yet to be. Mid-afternoon came, and it was time to begin dressing to go to our friend Herb’s 60th birthday party. As we drove down I-20 to the party, Phil told me to look behind us. There it was – a huge, bright rainbow arching above and across the interstate. We were driving west, away from the afternoon shower, but the view behind us was spectacular. Little did I know then that the rainbow was going to play a role in the birthday party we were going to.

Herb’s party – what can I say? What a fun evening, meeting the most interesting people I’ve met in a long time, and having a small part in celebrating our friend’s birthday. I felt honored to be among those invited, and soaked in everything that was going on around me. Conversations were lively, the food was delicious, and the music ---- WOW!! Herb’s wife, Wanda, sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to Herb in celebration of his birthday and their love, bringing tears to my eyes and a catch in my heart. I even got Phil to dance one dance with me as Herb sang. I was so amazed that Phil would dance that I can’t remember the song that Herb sang. There are many of us born in 1948 who are celebrating our 60th birthdays this year, but I think this party ranks at the top as the best yet!

Extraordinary day? Definitely!