Dear Ravi,
Every day I get a new writing prompt which I do not usually bother to read or follow. Today was different. The prompt was What is your Home Decorating Style? This strikes me as funny. I didn’t know that I had a home decorating style. My home is decorated by pets, both furry and quilled, copious amounts of books, music, CDs and an upright piano.. The house is over 100 years old and comes equipped with its own poltergeist. The floors and furniture are tastefully decorated with a heavy layer of dog fur. It does not matter how often I vacuum or sweep, the fur always returns. In the wet or snowy seasons, the back entry way is decorated with little paw prints. The windows are graciously covered in little doggie nose prints. One can walk into our house and feel that some sort of epic struggle went on right before one darkened the door. Was the struggle with a dog, a cat, a hedgehog, the poltergeist? No one knows and the animals are not talking. The ghost offered no comment and flitted off.
When people walk into our home, I want them to feel comfortable. We have inviting chairs and interesting things to read or look at. We are not formal at all. 24 years ago, you taught me just to roll with the curveballs that life lobs at me and I have followed your lead ever since. We set up this home so you and your sibling Mercury would feel safe and loved. Your artwork was on the fridge. Swings hung from various entry ways and in the basement. Until you outgrew it there was always a mini trampoline on hand, in case someone had an irrepressible urge to bounce. Martha Steward would clutch her pearls if she saw my kitchen. It is set up for the convenience of your daddy and me and our collection of pets. My reading chair in in the corner under the windows and the cat has tastefully decorated the chair with his very own claws, thank you Nikki.
Anyway, this prompt made me laugh and do some writing for fun. I have spent all day working on your manuscript, a plot synopsis and a letter of query. I enjoy this kind of cerebral work. I am delighted that 7 weeks out of surgery I can now focus for hours at a time. It was also refreshing to write something completely different!
Daddy just got home from the airfield. He is very happy because he was aloft for 2 hours and 53 minutes. There was no wind here, but there was good lift out at Stanton. He is now busy rehydrating. Gloria is happy that we are both in the same room and she does not have herd anyone. Raya is happy because Gloria is having a moment of calm. Anyway, just wanted to touch base. I will talk to Jenn tomorrow about being a bereavement peer and when I can do the necessary training. For tonight, however, I will be a creature of leisure, happy in our comfortable home. Love you forever. Mom.
Harriet's Hedgehogs and Autism Advocacy 