Day 5

Day 5
March 5th, 2009
30-Day Writing Challenge
Picture submitted by: Mark Adamson

Life At Its Best

This is life at its best, I think.

The morning light still glimmers silver when my mind begins to stretch and awaken from beneath the blankets of sleep.  When I open my eyes, the first sight to meet my sleepy gaze is that of my wife, curled up beside me.  I love no one else more than I love her, and the sight of her brings joy to me every morning.  Sometimes when I see her, all kinds of memories rush though my head, but this morning, my mind dwells in the present-- here, with my wife.  I ought to be getting up now.

I get up out of bed, wiping the sleep out of my eyes.  I inhale deeply, exhale loudly.  As I breathe, a prayer forms in my mind.  It’s simple, but I like simplicity, with no ornaments to distract me from the heart of my thoughts.  “God, be my Lord today.  Let my attitude glorify you, my words bless you, and my work please you.  Amen.”  And I rise, ready for my day.  A hot shower should finish waking me up.

While I shower, I hear sounds in the kitchen.  My wife has gotten up to fix me breakfast.  I step out, and realize that the steam in the bathroom has heightened the smell of breakfast: bacon, eggs, beans, and coffee.  It’s the beginning of the day, and I already have my favorite breakfast.

After breakfast, I decide to clear my field, but before I do that, I need to grease up my bobcat skid steer.  It’s not very big, or fancy, but it’s mine.  It took a lot of saving up to buy it.  I wouldn’t normally have time to work on it, but today I have the day off.   I walk to the back window to look outside. 

Through the window, I see the field behind my house.  Like my skid steer, it is neither big nor fancy, but it is mine.  I find great joy in working it, especially in the mornings, when the crisp air soothes my heating body.  Standing there, I survey the scenery.  The field,  not yet tilled, stretches out until it touches my neighbor’s field.  A barbed-wire fence delineates his land from mine.  I smile.  How kind of God to let us scribble on his earth.  I sigh and walk outside through the back door.

The back door has creaky steps.  I make a mental note to work on them on the next day off I have.  I stop, perplexed.  Didn’t I make I mental note of that last time I had a day off?  I shrug.  The field (and therefore the skid steer) is more important right now.  I need to clear the field so that I can begin to till it soon.  I planted corn last year; this year I plan to grow soybeans.  I look up.  There before me sits my bobcat skid steer.

It doesn’t take too long to grease the skid steer.  I get in and drive it to the end of my field, where there’s a big pile of dirt that needs flattening.  I plow into it, pushing forward and pulling back, scooping up the dirt and placing it somewhere else, slowly, surely, flattening the area.  It gives me sense of power, of energy to drive this machine.  Without it, I would find myself shoveling dirt for two, maybe three, days.  This machine, clanking, growling, and humming, helps me work.  It is a beast that I can tame, a power that I can leash, a strength that I can direct.  I stop once for a quick lunch, but hurry back to my work.  Eventually, the field will be flat again, and I will plow it, disk it.  I will sow the seeds, fertilize them, and irrigate them.  And although I will do all this work, I know that it would all be in vain were it not for God.  It is God who gives me strength, who gives me life.  It is God who gives the plants life, too.  Tired after a hard day’s work, I head back to my house.

At home, my wife awaits me with a glass of lemonade and a delicious dinner.  She talks, then, of her day.  She tells me about cleaning the house, and going to the supermarket, and cooking dinner, and simply enjoying her day off from any activities.  I sit and listen, feeling the air conditioner cool off my hot muscles.  My wife points out that I have smudges all over my face.  Grease.  I must take a shower before I go to bed.  She wrinkles her nose delicately.  “You’re stinky, too,” she says.  Then she smiles.  “My strong man.”  I smile back.  I will take my shower and go to bed, and tomorrow will be another day.  I will probably rise early and go to work.  I love my life.

This is life at its best, I think.