Wonderful Wednesday

Recently, we were delighted to be able to welcome a friend for a good visit on Wednesday. This was our first opportunity to enjoy catching up in over a year. Big plans were in place; fresh raspberry lemonade, fajitas, designer cupcakes made by an amazing baker; all served in a sparkling clean setting.

Already Saturday evening, the floors were freshly washed and polished. There was a tiny gleam in front of each footstep taken. It was a kind of small thrill that no one in this household is accustomed to.

By Sunday evening, the piles of items stacked up on the horizontal spaces in the house were gradually shrinking. Most of the things we use often enough not to really put them away were stashed quietly until after Wednesday. The midden was growing manageable.

Washing windows, dusting furniture, cleaning kitchen appliances, and preparing such an easy meal would be perfect. There were still Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the event.

On Monday, the picnic tables and the propane tanks were being painted. Beautiful. The yard is green and clear of broken tree branches. We were on our way to a nearly Pioneer Woman-themed outside sitting area. There were only a few patches where the grass had died out. And then there were small stalks of corn popping up around the yard. Corn Dog, the almost tame squirrel, buries corn kernels for winter food emergencies. What with all the rain, Corn Dog's corn kernel stash sprouts and grows. Our little buddy did all that work to no avail. It won't take us long to pull up the corn stalks before our guest arrives.

Inside the house, things were progressing. With an eye towards the planned lunch menu featuring fajitas, the search for ground cumin began. The cinnamon bottle fell out of the spice cupboard, followed by the ground cloves. Eventually, the cumin appeared on the top shelf, all 3 stale containers of it. These were so old that they no longer smelled like cumin. They smelled like the accompanying dust on the faded lids. They ended up in the trash. Cumin topped the grocery list. A couple of hours later, the kitchen, pantry and dining room flat areas were semi-visible. The missing vegetable peeler is found.

A quick trip ensued on Tuesday, to the dentist and to do the grocery shopping. Once back at home, thus began the sorting out of the ingredients for lunch the following day. The lure of the raspberry lemonade made it possible to accept the multiple rounds of blending and straining and blending and straining, making simple syrup, then mixing and straining once more before committing the raspberry lemonade to the fridge. Meanwhile, mysteriously, more items had stacked up on the counter tops and on the sticky kitchen floor.

No worries. Seeing to the necessary tasks would be manageable. Removing and stashing and scrubbing were doable. Likewise,the laundry that needed to be caught up and the dishes that needed to be washed, along with the wiping down (more like a lick and a promise) of kitchen appliances and cupboards proved to be possible. Summer nights are optimistic and pass so quickly!

Wednesday began early, full of promise! The vegetables needed to be prepared, the meat marinated for a couple of hours; then sliced, and the final round of cleaning up would take no time at all. It was cloudy, so who cared if the windows had not been washed? Corn Dog's corn stalks outside were kind of charming, in a rustic sort of way. It made for an interesting conversation, all those random corn stalks growing in the yard. Everything would come together smoothly and in a timely manner.

Wednesday at 8:30 AM, two company trucks pulled up to install some much needed equipment we had purchased many months ago. Covid had caused several delays in the supply chain.

Today was the day, and it was perfect! After multiple phone conversations and consultations about the final details, the professionals set to work. Trenching and digging and wiring and installing. It was all very exciting.

The next phase of the project called for an additional team of workmen. Miraculously, two more trucks arrived, right on schedule. This second group of professionals figured out the needed action and protocol for a perfect installation. Amazing.

All went well. These people are wonderful. The project is complete. It is beyond awesome!

Walking inside the house, our friend's car pulled in and parked in the driveway. Nothing was ready for lunch. The multiple-times strained raspberry lemonade still contained tiny seeds that froze immediately to the ice cubes in the glasses. The meat and veggies for the fajitas still needed to be sliced and sauteed in the old cast iron skillet. The cumin was missing.There weren't enough clean dishes in the cupboard.

It didn't matter at all. The joy was in the conversation. The meal was prepared and haphazardly served. The raspberry lemonade was chewy (Countrytime next time).

Stars of the meal, the cupcakes were exquisitely beautiful and delicious.

It was fantastic and fun!

We kept smiling and shaking our heads in wonder throughout the day. The work teams had completed the installation. All is well and appreciated. We are grateful.

And the cumin? It was in the bottom of the missing grocery bag still in the car on Thursday morning, along with the toothpaste and dish soap. The new, unopened container of cumin is now stored on the top shelf of the spice cupboard along with the cinnamon and the ground cloves, It's ready for the next fajita lunch!

The unwinding of Wednesday brought to mind Frost's poem, and the truth in Psalm16:11

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

-Robert Frost

"You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore " Psalm 16:11