Today is the first day of the year 2020
and boy do I hate dust
I will throw in dirty windows, too
and I have lots of those
I don’t like 8 inches of snow on
top of my garbage can lids
and I don’t like the ice on
the porch caused by freezing
rain before the snow came
When the year starts out like this
you have to wonder. Will the car start?
Will there be any bushes left
after the deer get through
These may not seem like
major concerns to everyone and
they are not major concerns to me,
but they are concerns
Are the mice going to make
a home in my car again
or in my garden shed?
I threw them out once but
they just don’t get the idea
and keep coming back
It is a nice shed and
I am sure they find
great comfort there in the winter
Wrapped up in their insulation
It breaks my heart
when I have to go shovel out
their nesting place and
leave them out in the cold, but after all
It is my shed and
I didn’t build it for them,
but they think I did
The sun coming in through the dirty windows
shows off the dust on my key boards
I have two key boards, not because
I write so fast, but because one is level with
the surface of the computer and
the additional one, which I use
has elevated keys and I can
type faster with fewer errors
That is important to me
The wind is blowing as
I watch through the window and
the light snow not frozen to the trees
falls into the rays of the sun and
reminds me of dust
It is beautiful to watch but
then I think of all the work
I have ahead of me
I was thinking of getting a dog,
probably a Chocolate Lab, but
they can be a lot of work
People on the road walking
their dogs is a common sight.
They carry a container of plastic bags
and if the dog if functioning properly
they will use one of these bags
to pick up the droppings
They will properly dispose of them,
but the word properly has various
meanings to a great many people
Many of this group also ride bikes
and I think it is nice.
I remember riding when I was a kid:
Barefoot, short pants, no knee pads,
no elbow pads, no helmet, and no gloves
or goggles. Also no sweaters
wrapped around my waist or
over my shoulders.
Sometimes they act like they are
the Kings and Queens of the road and
mercy to those in the way.
We drank water before we left
so didn’t have to carry bottles
in specially attached holders
I thought of a cat,
but I have allergies and
cats can wrap themselves around
your feet when you are walking and
be a real danger as they increase
your chance of losing balance and falling.
We had dozens of cats at our home
in the country farm land.
They were outside cats and
basically on their own,
although we fed them and
provided water
Six dozen was not an exaggerated number.
Our dogs then were huskies and they, too,
stayed outside.
They did not often bother the cats.
With six children running around
I didn’t have much time
to worry about dust, but today,
the first day of the year,
I am in anguish.
Stanski
January 1, 2020 ^
Steve Haarman 