Cul De Sac

And when they all,

All go home

Down the cobblestones

You will double back

To a cul de sac - Van Morrison

I woke up to the sound of a cat's collar jingling.

Looking out of one eye, I look to the bedroom window facing the east, and guess that it is around 8 or 9AM. I decide to get up and start the morning, while my girlfriend sleeps soundly.

I share a 4 bedroom colonial house with 4 cats, and two young daughters, who spend most of the weekend with their father. Fumbling for the coffee maker, I look out the window to see a blanket of fog draped all over a pastoral landscape of the Connecticut River valley. I've lived in Western Massachusetts for 20 years, but this has been my first year as a resident of Franklin County. My neighborhood is a pleasant, mostly quiet Cul De Sac. The only noises I tend to hear is the occasional delivery truck, or a neighbor's dog barking. At night, the woods come alive, with fox, coyote and owls all letting their voices be heard.

For the past several months, Covid-19 has shut down much of my occupation as a self employed musician, and the year started with the passing of my father after a long illness. I ended up selling my house and moving in with my girlfriend of the past two years, while I wait for a vaccine, so I can start working again. 

I make some coffee for the two of us, leave one next to her bedside, and go for a walk.