I was taking care of all my little bedtime preparations a couple of hours ago including taking garbage out to the dumpster while trying to distract my two cats, Baldo and Chica, from their preoccupation with food, when I noticed how pleasant it was outside.

Baldo and Chica had followed me outside—they follow figuring, based on past experience, that I’ll eventually give in to their food cravings and persistent pleadings—and I sat down on a picnic table bench between my father’s unused motorized chair (where Baldo has recently taken to sitting as if it is his) and another nearby bench where Chica normally sits (and which she would eventually settle on).

I sat down, straightened my back and stretched my neck—my body’s principal stress indicator—and looked up at the star-filled night sky before closing my eyes and deeply inhaling and exhaling. Continue reading →