BOOK ADDICTION

“Just finished another one!” I said as I closed the cover of my book, tossed it next to me on the couch, and reached over to grab my cup of tea.

“What was this one about?” my son Alex asked.

“Oh, you know, another family drama where everyone is battling each other but in the end they realize they love one another and it all works out.” I explained as I took a sip of my tea.

“Okay.” Alex starts to laugh. “Sounds like it was a great book.”

I put my cup down on the coffee table. “Did you know that in the 1800’s it was considered

unhealthy to read?”

“Really?” Alex sat down on the couch and picked up the book I’d just put down, flipping it over to read the back cover. “Why?”

“Doctors claimed reading caused ‘hysteria’ and nervous breakdowns in women.” I looked over at him raising my eyebrows. “They also said that reading caused brain activity that would divert blood flow away from the womb so you’d hurt the baby if you were pregnant!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “They also claimed that woman who read would abandon their housework and childcare.”

Alex started laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” I held up one hand in the air and the other over my heart. “Totally swear. That’s what they thought.”

“Sounds like they really didn’t want women reading back then.” Alex said as he tossed the book back on the couch.

“They only wanted men reading what they thought of as serious books like history, law and science. But they didn’t want them reading novels either because they thought it would affect their ability to work.”

Alex looked confused. “How’s that suppose to stop them from working?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess they thought reading novels would make them lose track of time and they’d forget to go to work.”

Alex shook his head. “It’s kind of what they say about computer games now.”

“Well…” Now it was time for me to question that analogy.

Alex held up his hand. “Hear me out.” He said. “If some guy reads a fictional story for two hours it’s considered ‘higher education’ but have him play video games for the same amount of time and he’s addicted!”

“But people can get caught up in video games and spend the entire day playing!” I argued.

Alex looked at his watch. “As opposed to you reading for the last two hours?”

“It’s different.” I argued.

Just then my husband Steven came into the room. “Hey, what’s for dinner?” He asked as he was passing through the room.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was already dinner time and I hadn’t even started it yet. “Well…”

Alex held up my book, a smile on his face. “Well?” He asked.

“It’s not an addiction!” I cried. “I can stop anytime I want!”

Steven looked confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing.” I sighed as I got up from the couch. “I’m starting dinner right now.”

HIDDEN TREASURE

My son Alex opened the door to the back porch, where I was already sitting having my first cup of tea.

“Morning!” He said. “You’re finally able to sit outside.”

“It’s beautiful out!” I said as I leaned back in my rocking chair. “I think this is the first time I’ve been able to sit outside since I started my summer vacation!” I turned around to smile at him. “But now that the heat wave has finally broken I’m loving it out here!”

Alex laughed. “I’m glad.” He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. “I was about to make some eggs, do you want any?”

I shook my head. “I already ate.”

Alex stood next to my chair. “Oh, what did you have?”

I stopped rocking. “Ummm… I forget.” I pretended to be interested in what was happening at the bird feeder.

“You forgot?” Alex didn’t sound like he believed that answer but decided not to ask anything further. “Okay. Well, I’m making some for myself.”

“Sounds good.” I reached over and picked up my cup of tea, waiting for him to go inside.

When I heard the door close behind him I let out a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later Alex was back outside. “Guess what I found in the garbage when I went to throw out my eggshells?” He came up next to me holding an empty Nutrageous candy bar wrapper.

“It’s not mine.” I quickly said.

Alex started to laugh. “Are you seriously going to go with that?”

I sighed. “I thought I’d jammed it down far enough in the trash that no one would find it.”

“You actually ate a candy bar for breakfast?”

“In my defense it wasn’t a whole candy bar.” I reasoned. “There was only a small piece left and when I went into the refrigerator to get some milk for my tea I saw it and I couldn’t help myself.”

“You had a candy bar in the refrigerator? I was in there last night and I didn’t see it.”

“Of course you didn’t.” I said matter-of-factually. “I’d hidden it.”

“You hid it in the refrigerator?”

“Yup! I do it all the time.” I took the wrapper from him and put it on the table next to me. “I hide things in the freezer, too.”

Alex shook his head. “Are you serious?”

“Very.” I leaned back in my chair. “I’ve lived in a house filled with guys for years. Do you really think I’d ever be able to have a treat that I could save for later, when I wanted it, if I didn’t have some good hiding places?”

Alex shook his head. “So you had a candy bar for breakfast.”

“A small piece of a candy bar.” I reminded him as I shrugged my shoulders. “Besides, it’s my summer vacation. I deserve a treat.”

“It was breakfast!” Alex called over his shoulder as he went back in the house.

“And it was delicious!” I called back to him.

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE

I was sitting on my porch, a container of bird seed next to my rocking chair, when my husband Steven came outside.

“Morning.” He said as he kissed the top of my head. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good. How about you?” I pointed to the chair next to me. “Want to come join me?”

“I slept okay.” He said as he sat down. “What are you doing?”

“I just filled the bird feeders and I’m waiting for everyone to come out of the woods.”

Steven looked confused. “Who’s coming out of the woods?”

I pointed to the feeders. “When I was filling them I could see all the house finches jumping from branch to branch waiting for me to finish.” I pointed to the chipmunk scurrying by the fire pit. “He’s on his second trip of gathering the seeds I spilled on the ground.” I leaned back in my chair and began humming.

“That sounds familiar. What’s that song you’re humming?” He asked.

“It’s from the Wizard of Oz. ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ I started to sing, then laughed. “I feel like Glinda the Good Witch trying to coax the Munchkins out of the underbrush.”

Just then a goldfinch flew out from the woods and landed on the birdbath.

Steven looked over at me. “Glinda, huh?”

I looked down at my outfit, which was a bathrobe over an oversized tee shirt and pajama bottoms. “Okay, I may not look like Glinda right now. But I think I said I FEEL like her. I never mentioned looking like her.”

We watched as a cardinal couple flew in and landed on the feeders.

“See? Everyone’s enjoying their breakfast!” I said as I smiled at Steven.

A few blue jays swooped in to join the party, squawking as they landed at the top of the feeders. “There’s enough room for everyone!” I called out to them as I looked over at Steven and began laughing.

Just then three squirrels, who were chasing each other around the oak tree, stopped to watch the chipmunk loading up his cheeks at the bottom of the feeders.

“And there you have it.” I sighed. “The squirrels have arrived and now it’s ruined for everyone.”

Steven shook his head. “Why don’t you like the squirrels?” He asked. “They have to eat, too.”

We watched as a squirrel shimmied up the pole of the feeder, chasing all the birds away while it leaned over and dumped all the seed onto the ground. The other squirrels were waiting underneath and began feasting on the pile of seeds.

“That’s why!” I said pointing to the fat little intruders. “They just chased all the birds away!”

Steven looked over at the table and saw my empty cup sitting there. “Would you like some more?” He asked pointing to my cup. “I can heat up some extra water for you when I’m heating up mine.”

“You know, maybe some more tea would be the exact thing I need right now.” I said as I got up and grabbed my container of birdseed and headed into the house. “Seeing that my magical movie moment seems to be over now.” I sighed. “I guess it’s time for me to get in the shower and get back to reality.”

SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME

I was curled up on my couch watching my favorite show when I heard the chime of the front doorbell ring from the speaker in my hallway.

My television show was also interrupted with a video notification in the right hand corner of the screen and Alexa telling me “Someone is at your front door.” All this happened at the same time my phone began to vibrate on the cushion next to me also letting me know someone was at the front door.

“Okay, I’ve been properly notified.” I laughed as I got up from the couch, scooped up my phone, and saw that my son’s friend Tommy was at the front door. The notification on my phone also let me know that he was wearing a blue shirt and holding up a white bag. From the picture I could see the bag was from a fast food restaurant.

“Alex!” I called out to my son. “Tommy’s here and he brought snacks!”

I opened the front door. “Hey, Tommy! How are you doing?”

“I’m good.” He said as he came in.

As I shut the door behind him Alex came around the corner. “Hey, Tommy!”

I looked over at Alex. “Have you noticed the Ring doorbell has decided to give more of a description about the person at the door?”

Alex looked confused. “What?”

I held up my phone and showed him the picture of Tommy and the caption stating what color shirt he was wearing and that he was holding a white bag. “It used to just tell us if someone was at the front door. Now it tells you what they’re wearing and holding!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Must be an upgrade in the program.”

I looked back at my phone. “Well, I didn’t order an upgrade. Did you?”

Alex just shook his head as he took the bag from Tommy and headed for the kitchen. “I don’t think you had to order it.” He said over his shoulder. “It’s probably just an AI upgrade.”

“Well, I don’t like it.” I grumbled as I followed both of them into the kitchen. “I feel like it’s too nosy.” I scrolled through app until I got to the picture of him coming home from work an hour earlier. “Look at this one!” I said as I held it up for him to see. “There’s someone coming up the steps holding a cooler!” I looked over at Tommy and showed him. “It’s telling me he’s holding a cooler!” I cried. “That’s creepy!”

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. “He is holding a cooler.” He reminded me.

“Well, it’s just too personal!” I looked at both of them. “Pretty soon I’m going to be walking out the front door for work an the ring camera is going to call out and say, ‘Is that what you’re wearing to work today?’” I shook my head in disgust. “Then it’s going to download what it thinks are some ‘appropriate’ outfits for me to wear and send me a link to Amazon to order them!”

Alex laughed as he grabbed some napkins. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a little bit?”

“No.” I said sadly as I looked back at my phone. “I really don’t.” I sighed as I put my phone on the counter top and went back to the couch to finish my show.

BUNNY BONANZA

“Hey, there’s a bunny in our back yard!” My son Alex called to me from the kitchen as he was making his morning coffee.

“I’m watching one in the front yard!” I called back to him as I sat on the couch, sipping my tea, watching the front yard bunny nibble on some clover.

“I saw three of them yesterday.” Alex said as he came into the living room waiting for his water to heat up. “Why do you think there are so many this year?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t seen any hawks in the neighborhood lately. I guess without any predators around the bunny population has been able to explode.”

Alex walked over to the front window. “I wonder where all the hawks went?” He asked as the kettle began to whistle and he went back into the kitchen to shut it off.

“No food, no hawks.” I called out to him. I watched as the bunny looked around before moving to another patch of clover. “Good job, my friend. Keep a lookout for any danger.”

Alex came back with his mug of coffee. “You know, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any hawks around her for a few years.”

“Don’t worry.” I sighed. “They’ll be back.” We both watched as my bunny slowly hopped to the next patch of clover “Word will be out soon enough that our neighborhood is back to being a bunny bonanza and the hawks will be making their nests in our trees in no time.”

Alex frowned. “That’s a sad thought for the bunnies.”

I shook my head before taking another sip of my tea. “Sad but true.” I put my tea cup on the coffee table. “But I have pretty high hopes that Bernard will be able to hold his own against any hawks.”

Alex looked confused. “Who’s Bernard?”

“Bernard the Bunny.” I nodded my head toward the bunny in the front yard. “I’ve seen him every morning this week so I figured he deserved a name.” I looked over at Alex. “I have to say he’s impressed me with the way he’s always stopping and checking the sky for any problems. I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to outsmart any hawks that show up.”

Alex shook his head and laughed. “You named him?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Of course. He visits our front yard every morning while I have my tea.” I reached over and picked up my tea cup again. “As far as I’m concerned he’s become a part of our family.”

“But how can you tell it’s the same bunny you’re seeing every morning?”

I shrugged my shoulders again and took a sip of tea. “I don’t.”

Alex laughed again. “So you’ve named every bunny who runs through our yard Bernard?”

“Exactly!” I looked over at him and smiled. “Now I don’t have to worry about anything happening to my Bernard because we have dozens of him!”

Alex shook his head as he headed back to his room. “Whatever you have to tell yourself to make it through the day.”

I smiled as I looked out the widow. “Exactly.” I said to myself as I watched Bernard hop across the lawn and under the lilac bush. “See you tomorrow my friend!”

AN ORANGE TREE

I was standing in my back yard, looking up in the trees, when my son Alex came out the back door.

“What are you doing?” He called to me.

I had my hand cupped over my eyebrows, shading my eyes from the morning sun. “I’m looking for oranges.” I called back.

Alex stepped out the back door and looked up into the trees. “Aren’t they maple trees?” He asked.

I looked over at him. “They are.” I pointed to the empty bird bath. “But I left some orange slices for the birds and now they’re missing.”

“So why do you think they’re in the trees?” Alex laughed.

“I looked it up on Google.” I explained. “If the oranges are missing it said it was probably a blue jay or a crow taking them up in the trees to eat them in peace.”

“So if they wanted to eat them in peace why are you trying to track them down?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I just want to see who enjoyed eating them.”

I walked back toward the deck. “I guess I’ll never know.” I sighed.

“Well maybe whoever it was didn’t take them up in our trees and brought it over to the neighbors trees instead.”

That made me stop. “I didn’t think of that.” I looked over at the neighboring trees.

“Do you want me to get the binoculars for you?” Alex laughed again.

“No.” I laughed. “I guess that would look weird.”

We both went back in the house and I went over to the butcher block where we kept a fruit bowl. Grabbing another orange I went to the silverware drawer and took out a knife. “I’ll just put another orange out and see if I can catch who’s taking it.” I said as I sliced the orange into two pieces and walked back outside with them.

Dropping them near the bird feeders I headed back to the house. I could hear a blue jay and a crow calling out.

“Did you hear that?” I said to Alex as I came back inside. “A crow and a blue jay were letting everyone know I’d put some more fruit out.”

“Is that what they were calling out?” Alex couldn’t help but smile as he shook his head.

“That’s exactly what they were saying!” I explained as I went to the kitchen sink to wash my hands.

Just then my husband Steven came into the kitchen and went over to the butcher block to grab an orange. “Anyone want to share an orange with me?” He asked as he began to peel it.

“I’m good.” I said as I turned the water off and grabbed a towel to dry my hands.

He held out a wedge to Alex. “How about you?” He asked.

“I’m good, too.” Alex said as he leaned against the counter.

Steven popped a wedge into his mouth. “Well, I’m glad to see you guys are enjoying the oranges I bought yesterday.” He pointed over to the fruit bowl. “I see there’s already a few missing.”

Alex looked over at me raising his eyebrows.

“Everyone’s enjoying them!” I quickly said cutting off Alex before he could say anything.

“Yeah,” Alex said as he looked out the kitchen window where the orange was sitting on the ground near the bird feeders. “Everyone seems to be enjoying them!”

BUTTERY GOODNESS

My husband Steven and son Alex and I were in one of our favorite parks. As we hiked through the woods, (okay it was really a walk), we traveled over a wooden bridge where a slow moving brook was passing underneath. Bright green leaves of skunk cabbage plants were dotted along its banks.

“I have to say I absolutely LOVE this time of year!” I said as I stopped at the center of the bridge, leaning against the railing looking down in the water. “Is that a turtle?” I asked as I pointed to what looked like a dark shell half submerged in the water.

Alex leaned further over the railing. “Could be.” He said but neither one of us wanted to admit it could really just be a rock.

“Look at all those tadpoles!” Steven called as he pointed to a school of tadpoles swimming together close to the bottom of the brook.

“I wonder how long it will take for them to become frogs?” I asked as I looked over at Steven waiting for his answer.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I guess it depends on what kind of frogs they grow into.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Seems like a good answer.”

We started back on our walk. Leaving the bridge we climbed up a steep embankment before we walked into an open field filled with buttercups.

“Oh, my gosh!” I cried as the little yellow flowers danced in the breeze. “They’re beautiful!”

I reached down ready to pick one of the flowers and hold it under my chin.

“If you see the reflection of yellow under my chin it means I love butter!” I looked over at Alex to see if he was watching me.

“Don’t even bother picking one!” Alex laughed. “I saw how much butter you put on your English muffin after you toasted it this morning!” Alex looked over at Steven. “Let’s just say she LOVES butter!”

“Hey! That’s not fair!” I laughed.

“How’s that not fair?” Alex asked as he pointed to the flowers surrounding us. “You don’t even need to pick one for me to know you’re thoughts on butter.”

I stood back up placing my hands on my hips. “Well, everyone knows you have to put a butter base on your toasted muffin before you can put the jelly on it.”

“Everyone?” Alex’s eyebrows went up with the question.

“Everyone who wants to eat a deliciously toasted English muffin with jelly on it for breakfast!” I countered.

“Okay.” Steven said as he stepped in between us. “Have either of you seen any flowers around here that will tell us if you like ice cream?”

Alex and I both looked at him confused. “What?” We said in unison.

“I was planning on stopping for ice cream on the way home and I wanted to know if either of you are interested?”

“Sounds good to me.” I said headed for the parking lot.

“I’m in.” Alex agreed catching up to me.

“And that’s how you end a perfect day in the park.” Steven said we he caught up to us.

DUCK AND COVER

“NO! NO! NO! NO!” I yelled as I looked out the front window watching a small chipmunk casually go from clover flower to clover flower as if it didn’t have a care in the world.

“What’s wrong?” My son Alex said as he quickly came out of his room and into the living room where I was standing.

“There’s a young chipmunk in our front yard!” I cried as I pointed to the little fur-ball scampering around the yard.

Alex looked confused. “First off, how do you know he’s young? And second, what’s wrong with that?”

“Because there’s no cover. No place to hide!” I looked up in the sky waiting for a hawk or even a blue jay to swoop down and grab him. “He has no idea the danger he’s in!”

“Okay.” Alex came over to me, patting me on the shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

I looked over at him and sighed. “I’m just worried about him.” I looked back out as he peacefully munched on some clover flowers.

“He seems fine.” Alex tried to reassure me again.

“I know, but anything could grab him.” I sighed again. “He’s got to be one of the first of the spring litter that’s been kicked out of the burrow.”

“They get kicked out?” Alex asked.

“Yup.” I nodded as I held up my fingers and began counting off. “The first four weeks they stay underground, blind and helpless.” Another finger up, “By week six they’re weaned and start taking short trips out of the burrow.” I held up my next finger. “Week eight Mom gets a little aggressive trying to stop them from being dependent and by week ten…” I shook my head and pointed out to the front yard. “They’re completely out on their own.”

“So he’s ready.” Alex reasoned looking out at him.

I laughed. “Does he look ready to you?” I began shaking my head. “Clearly he missed the seminar about ‘duck and cover’ when Mom was going over it in the burrow.”

“Well, maybe we could get him a little army helmet to help keep him safe.” Alex laughed.

I didn’t reply.

Alex looked confused. “You know I wasn’t being serious, right?”

“Oh, I know.” I laughed. “I was just picturing him wearing one.”

We watched as he quickly scampered across the yard and under my car.

“See?” Alex reassured me. “He knows when he needs to hide.”

I looked at the other side of the yard where a small bunny was getting his share of clover.

“He ran away from a bunny.” I said shaking my head. “Bunnies aren’t the ones he should be afraid of.”

“Well,” Alex reasoned. “He’s still learning.”

“Better learn fast little man!” I called. “It’s a crazy world out there!”

Alex laughed as he patted me on the shoulder again. “He’s lucky that you’re looking out for him.”

LUCK OF THE CLOVER

We were over at my brother-in-law Donny’s house, walking around the back yard looking at all the planting he’d been doing, when I realized we were walking in the middle of a clover patch. I just had to stop.

“I feel one in here.” I said looking down.

“What?” Donny asked.

“She’s looking for a four leaf clover.” My husband Steven explained.

I was scanning the immediate area.

Seconds later I reached down and plucked one out of the patch. “Ta-da!” I said holding it up.

“You know…” Donny began to say.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “You’re not going to tell me it’s just a mutation.” I had to laugh. “You’ve told me that before.”

I placed it in the middle of my hand. “I consider it a marvel.” I gently spread out the leaves so you could see the four of them. I touched each leaf as I said “This one is for faith, this one is for hope, this one is love, and the fourth one…” I looked at them both. “Is for luck.”

I cradled it in my hand as I looked back at the clover patch. “Now that I know you have a lucky clover patch in your yard I’ll be looking for more.”

“Help yourself.” Donny said as he and my husband began to talk.

I really wasn’t listening to them as my eyes scanned the area again.

A few seconds later I was plucking out another one from the patch. “Love it!” I said as I placed it in my hand next to the other one. “That’s enough luck for today.” I said as we headed back to the house.

“What are you going to do with them?” Steven asked as I placed them on the table next to my purse so I wouldn’t forget to take them with me.

“What I always do with them.” I said, “I’ll get a piece of wax paper and press them between some books until they dry out.”

“And then?” He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Have them?” I said.

We were ready to join everyone else back at the table for dessert when I stopped Steven and said. “You know, my friend Karen used to press them against beautiful paper then laminate them, making them into lucky charms that you could put in your wallet or even into bookmarks.”

Steven nodded his head. “That sounds like a nice thing to do. Is that what you’re going to do with them then?”

I shook my head. “Nope. That’s way too much work for me.” I laughed. “I’m just going to press them between some books and months later when I come across them I’ll be surprised all over again!”

Steven laughed. “That sounds like a plan.”

“One I can accomplish with ease.” I agreed. “Besides the thrill is when you originally find one.”

“Kind of how I feel when I find pennies on the ground.” Steven offered.

“Exactly!” I looked over at him and smiled. “Lucky pennies, lucky four leaf clover! You totally get me!”

“Remind me, we need to stop on the way home and pick up a lottery ticket.” Steven said as we were back at the table ready for dessert.

I was pulling my chair up to the table when I leaned over and whispered. “I’ll even let you borrow one of my clovers when you go in and buy it.”

ARE YOU SICK?

I’d just come in from the backyard and I quickly went over to the tissue box on the counter, pulled two sheets out of the box, and began to blow my nose.

“Are you sick?” My son Alex asked as he came into the kitchen.

“I’m pretty sure it’s allergies.” I said as I tossed the tissues into the trash and went over to wash my hands.

“Are you sure?” Alex asked looking doubtful. “You sound pretty stuffed up.”

“I was fine when I woke up this morning.” I assured him. “But as soon as I went outside I was done for.” I shook the excess water off my hands and grabbed some paper towels.

I could feel my nose begin to fill again. “Oh, great!” I sighed as I grabbed another few tissues. “This is going to be a fun day.”

“What are you allergic to?” Alex asked as he stepped away from me as I blew my nose again.

“Oak trees in the spring.” I said as I finished blowing my nose and once again headed to the sink to wash my hands. “Wait. That’s not completely true.” I added. “I’m also allergic to them when one gets cuts down, so that could be anytime of the year.”

“I don’t remember you being allergic to them before.” Alex said as he leaned against the counter-top. “When did it start?”

“When we moved here.” I sighed. “I had no idea that this neighborhood is filled with oak trees.” I began to cough.

“You really do sound sick.” Alex looked doubtful as he handed me some more tissues.

“I am!” I said as I blew my nose again. “Sick of those oak tassels falling from the trees and landing in big clumps around the yard!” Tossing the tissues away I was once again standing at the sink.

“Are you ready for some breakfast?” I asked drying my hands after I’d washed them.

Alex hesitated. “What are you thinking of making?”

“How about some eggs?” I went to the refrigerator. As I pulled out the carton I began to sniffle again.

“You know what?” Alex took the eggs away from me and put them on the counter. “Why don’t you take the box of tissues and go rest on the couch while I make the eggs.”

“Really?” My eyes lit up.

“Yes, really.” He went over, got the box of tissues, handed them to me and pointed me in the direction of the living room.

“That sounds wonderful!” I said as I sniffled again. I settled into the couch, throwing a blanket over my legs and grabbing my book.

“How do you want your eggs?” Alex called.

“However you’re making them is fine with me.” I called back as I settled into the cushions and breathed a little sigh of contentment.

“Toast?” Alex called back.

“Yes, please!” I reached over and pulled a tissue out of the box, dabbing my nose.

My husband Steven came out of our bedroom. “Good morning!” He said as he saw me on the couch. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good.” I looked up and smiled. “Alex thinks I’m sick so he’s making breakfast for me.”

Steven looked confused. “He thinks you’re sick?”

“It’s my oak allergies but he’s not taking any chances.” I reached over and grabbed another tissue. “You know I’m not nearly as upset with the oak trees as I was twenty minutes ago.” I snuggled back into the pillows. “Especially when I’m being waited on like this.”