A Life Extra Ordinary - Chapter 1, Page 3

Kathryn begins her day straightening up the kitchen, washing the remnants left by late night scavengers all the while brushing her teeth, a task that requires so little mental effort that she can conduct most of her morning ritual with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. A load into the washer, a load out of the dryer, she does not contemplate her ordinary life. It's not a subject she wastes much time pondering, but on occasion it does come up... just not this morning. She loves folding the wash, relishing her mechanical aptitude to fold every t-shirt, boxer, pant, fitted-sheet with precision... no need to iron if you take the extra time and make the extra effort. She could fold dozens of towels a day, towels are her favorite.

There was a time when Kathryn imagined an extra-ordinary life for herself as an Academy Award winning actress. That was a long time ago and while it did include an adventure to New York when she was eighteen, it also proved she did not have the self-esteem required to push herself toward stardom. A lesson she would not fully embrace for many years to come.

If you asked Kathryn what her most notable accomplishments were to date, she would say Charlie and Anthony, her sons. As it turned out, a role she never imagined for herself would be her finest achievement. She can't remember any time in her life when she had the goal to be a wife and mother, while so many of her peers in high school and college never imagined anything else. Funny how so many of the best things in life happen when you are looking the other way, she thought.

Today's goal would be, like every day for the past three months, to look half-heartedly for work because in another three months severance would end and the mortgage, car payments, household expenses and all those elaborate things they enjoyed doing like eating would be extra challenging. Kathryn feigned an intensive job search, but she knew turning fifty-nine, two months from now at the end of August, she wasn't the least bit interested in going back into the same work force she was just forced out of after thirty years.

Kathryn knew full well that writing an Academy Award winning screenplay, the great American novel or even a famed web-site was a pipe-dream or certainly not a viable, bill paying career plan. And yet, it was the only plan Kathryn had right now... call her strong-willed, or pig-headed in her old age, but she was tired of the old life and was hell bent on not pursuing another ten or twenty years running along the unchosen past career path. Dreaming might not pay the bills, but it was certainly spiritually and psychologically more inspiring.

Kathryn new she couldn't spend too many more days living in this dream-world, but she was ever so reluctant to let it go.

to be continued...

Taking a walk with Carolynn is like falling down the rabbit hole and finding yourself in the Garden of Eden complete with neighborhood architectual highlights and flowers, flowers, flowers. A stop at the Curio Cafe for coffee and the delightful atmosphere of meeting new friends with each trek makes a Carolynn walk an adventure in loving life.

When walking through your favorite garden spot don't forget to take pictures to share with your hub neighbors.