On The First Morning Of Solitude

I went for a slow walk in the garden. I thought, now I will have some time to play. What needs doing? That was not to be.

The Rough Bark Japanese maple had the time to turn a fiery orange.

On that first morning, a beam of rising sunlight set the tree ablaze. I walked slower in a stained glass cathedral imagining there was time to play.

Now was not the time. My energy was needed elsewhere. The house next door needed to be turned off for the winter and Solly was coming to live with us. The sisters came to visit and take their mother to Florida. They refused to take her cat. Solly's introduction to her new home had to be well monitored.

Button, Dinah and Solly are acquainted. They have a long hissing history. How was a new cat in the house going to work out?

So far it has been amazingly low drama. Button and Dinah have kept their distance. Solly has parked herself behind the sofa and won't come out. 

The ironweed bloomed white in a beam of early morning sun.