I was just coming in the front door when I heard my husband Steven call out, “The toaster you ordered came today.”

I placed my things down on the chair and went into the kitchen. “I didn’t order a toaster.”

Our son Alex was pulling out a nicely toasted piece of bread from a stainless steel Cuisinart four slice toaster. “Uh-oh!” he held the toast in midair for a second before dropping it on the paper towel. “Who’s toaster did we get?” he asked.

I looked over at Steven who was looking confused. “Three packages came today. I just assumed…”

I looked around the counter. “Where’s our toaster?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I threw it out when I saw the new one.”

“What?”

“I thought you bought a new one!” Steven went over to the toaster and began pointing to all the buttons. “Look! It not only toasts but it has a setting for a bagel. It also defrosts and reheats!”

“That’s great, but it’s not ours.”

Alex was spreading jelly on his toast. “I’ve already used it so I’m pretty sure we own it now.”

I looked back at Steven shaking my head. “Do you still have the box it came in?

He shrugged his shoulders. “I threw that out, too.” He went to the back door. “I’ll go pull it out of the garbage.”

When he came back in with the box he was pointing to the label. “Okay. It’s our neighbors.”

“Seriously?”

“Hey! It was an honest mistake. I told you three packages came today so I just grabbed them and opened them all.”

I held up my hand to stop him. “I get it. But now what do we do?” I sighed as I leaned against the counter. “I can’t walk next door while I’m shaking the crumbs out of it and saying what a silly mix up we had.”

“So let’s just order the exact same toaster and when it comes in we’ll give her that.”

“We needed a new toaster anyway.” Alex reminded me as he took another bite of his toast. “Our old toaster took forever to toast something.”

“I guess that’s true.” I looked over at our accidental new toaster. “I have to say she’s got better taste in toasters then I do.” I looked at the brushed stainless steel. “I was always fine with the cheap plastic toasters, that just toasted bread.”

“Now we have one that does so much more!” Steven flipped the box over until he could find the model number on the box.

I took my phone and opened up our Amazon account. Searched for toasters then typed in the make and model. “Okay, well the price isn’t too bad.” I double-checked the description to make sure it was the one she’d ordered. Then scanned for the delivery date. “Oh, good! It’s going to be delivered tomorrow!” I pressed ‘order’ then put my phone down. “Now I don’t feel so bad. At least she’ll get her toaster tomorrow.”

“Hey, I’m hoping she orders a bathroom scale next and they accidentally deliver that here, too.” Alex popped the last piece of toast in his mouth. “Ours hasn’t been right for the last month!”

Close to a foot of snow had fallen in our area over a two day period. Once it stopped and we dug ourselves out my son Alex and I decided to go for a walk in the neighborhood. The sun was bright, and there was absolutely no wind, so it was perfect walking weather for me.

We had already gone several blocks when I noticed something strange. I stopped and turned to Alex. “Do you hear that?”

Alex stopped and looked over at me. “What?”

I raised my finger to my ear. “Listen.”

Alex stood still for a moment then looked back at me. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly!” I looked around. “We should be seeing and hearing kids playing in the snow! They should be having snowball fights, building snowmen, making snow forts!” I pointed to dozens of front yards that we were walking past that were blanketed in snow, not a footprint to be found breaking through. “I know kids live in these houses. Why aren’t they outside having fun?”

Alex laughed. “Because they’re inside having fun playing video games.”

I shook my head. “That just makes me so sad.” I slipped my hands in my pockets. “When you were little I couldn’t have kept you inside. You’d have a bunch of friends over and all of you would be out in the snow for hours!”

Alex laughed. “Yeah, I remember.”

I pointed to another house we were passing. “I know there are at least two kids that live there!”

Once again their front yard was a pristine layer of snow.

“Maybe it’s not good packing snow.” Alex leaned down and scooped up a handful, quickly shaping it into a ball. “Nope, perfect packing snow.” He tossed the snowball up in the air and we watched as it landed in the middle of the street with a splat.

“There should be snowmen on the front lawn of at least a dozen of these houses!”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they made them in their backyard.”

I laughed as I looked over at Alex. “Everyone knows the rule that snowmen go in the front yard so everyone driving by can enjoy it.”

Alex just nodded his head trying not to laugh. “Oh, so there’s a rule.”

By now we were back to our house.

“I can’t believe we didn’t see one snowman!” I was hanging my coat in the closet when Alex call to me from the living room.

“You’ll be happy to see this!”

As I walked in he was pointing out our front window. “See?”

I looked out and could see our across the street neighbor with his three little ones building a tiny snowman. It was only about a foot and a half feet high but it made me feel so much better. “Ah, see? That’s what a snowfall is all about!”

“The must know the rule about building it in the front yard, too.” Alex laughed.

We watched as Dad put the finishing touches on the snowman then stepped back to let his little ones enjoy.

“That brings back so many good memories.” I sighed as I then watched one of the little ones go over and knock the snowman over.

Alex started to laugh. “Well, that didn’t last long.”

I had to laugh too. “Well, at least they’re playing in the snow. That’s what counts.”

My son Alex and I made an agreement that this year we were not going to let the cold stop us from walking every day.

As we pulled into the park we like to visit and found a parking space, I couldn’t help looking over at him and asking, “Are we still doing this?” I looked out the windshield at the slate colored sky and saw that the wind was picking up.

“It won’t be bad.” He was looking at the trees blowing in the wind too. “We’re dressed warm enough.” He didn’t sound very convincing.

We hadn’t even gotten out of the car when I noticed a jogger coming towards us. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a lightweight sweatshirt. I looked over at Alex as I pulled my hood up over my head and wrapped a scarf around my neck, pulling part of it up to cover my face. “Okay. Well, if he can wear shorts and not be cold I’m pretty sure I can do this!”

I opened the door and the wind instantly caught it and pulled it from my hand. Lucky for me I wasn’t parked next to a car or I definitely would have caused a dent. “Ooh, that could have been a disaster!” Closing the door I chirped the car locked and we headed for the walking path we liked.

I looked up at the sky again and noticed it was getting even darker. “Was there snow in the forecast?” I asked.

Alex dug his hands deeper into his pockets, bending his head down to block the wind. “I checked. It didn’t say there was going to be any.”

I watched as some geese flew overhead honking to one another as they headed towards one of the open fields.

“Maybe we should go on one of the wooded paths and see if it blocks any of this wind.” Alex suggested as we turned off the paved walkway and turned towards the woods.

“Great idea!” I said as another gust of wind hit hard enough to stop me for a moment.

As we made our way deeper into the woods the wind did seem to die down. “This is so much better!” I began noticing how pretty the path was as it went along a small lake. We watched as squirrels darted in the underbrush and a hawk circled overhead. “I have to admit it really is peaceful out here.”

“See, it’s not so bad.” Alex looked over at me. “I don’t know why we always stopped going out for walks when the temperature dropped.”

“You’re right!” I pulled the scarf up over my face again. “We just need to be dressed for it!”

We were coming out of the woods and were crossing a small bridge that went over the narrow end of the lake. We stopped and leaned on the railing looking down at the water. I noticed a few small drops hitting on the surface below. “Is that rain?” I looked up but didn’t see anything.

“I’m not sure.” Alex was looking up too. We could see the sky was turning an even darker shade of gray.

I dug in the pockets of my coat pulling out my gloves. As I was putting them on I noticed small white flecks blowing by me. “Okay, so I guess the weather app we just looked at missed the snow we’re now walking in!” I had to laugh as I tugged the strings tighter on my hood and adjusted my scarf again. I looked over at Alex. “It’s actually really pretty.”

Just then the shorts wearing jogger came into sight. As he passed us I waited until he was out of earshot and looked at Alex. “There is no way he’s not cold!”

“What’s for dinner?” my husband Steven called from the other room.

I looked at my watch and realized it was already six pm. That may seem early to some but for Steven it was way past dinnertime.

Lucky for me tonight’s dinner was going to be fast and easy.

“Leftovers!” I called back.

I didn’t have to hear the groan to know what was happening in the other room.

“Leftover what?” Steven asked as he walked into the kitchen.

I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the plastic covered bowls and plates. “Let’s see, so far we have pot roast and pasta.”

I opened up another container but when I couldn’t decide what it had been I tossed it in the trash and looked over at Steven. “I guess that one’s off tonight’s menu.”

Opening up the crisper drawer, I pulled out a bag of ready-made salad and grabbed a bottle of dressing from the refrigerator door.

Steven leaned against the counter watching me fill his plate before putting it in the microwave.

“Dinner in five minutes!” I cried as I brushed my hands together and went to gather the salad fixings.

Steven didn’t look thrilled as I handed him his bowl of salad and sprinkled some pre-cut cheese on top.

“There you go!” I smiled as I closed the cheese container and popped it back in the refrigerator.

I loved leftover night. Steven, on the other hand, wasn’t a big fan.

“Didn’t we already have pot roast?” he asked holding his salad plate.

Thinking he didn’t understand the concept of leftovers I thought I’d explain. “You loved it the other night.”

“Sure. I even loved it when you served it for lunch the next day. But when does it stop?”

“When it’s finished.” I explained as the microwave beeped and I handed him his dinner plate in his empty hand. “It was a really big roast.”

“Don’t we have anything else we can eat?” Steven put his plates down on the counter and went to look in the cabinets. “Maybe something new?”

“We can’t just throw the rest away and start on something new!” He might as well have asked me to take dollar bills and make paper airplanes out of them and sail them out the window.

I came from a big family that didn’t waste food. So the thought of throwing good food away was unthinkable.

I began filled my own plate and popped it in the microwave.

“Don’t we have anything else you can make?” Steven repeated as he opened the refrigerator and freezer doors, hoping for a miracle dish to appear.

That’s when I spotted the fifteen pound turkey in the freezer. “Oh, wow! I forgot about that! Can you pull that out?” I took his plates from the counter and carried them into the dining room. “I’ll make that for next weeks dinners!” I called over my shoulder.

I walked into the house with two shopping bags filled with books. “That was an awesome book swap!” I called out to my son Alex as he came out of his room.

“That’s a lot of books.” he said as I put the bags down and took off my coat.

“I know. Don’t you just love it?” I kneeled down on the floor an began taking the books out of the bags and stacking them on the chair. I couldn’t help but giggle as I looked at all the fun adventures I was about to take while reading them.

“You’ve been gone for hours.” he picked up one of the books and began reading the back cover. “Did it take that long for you and Mrs. L. to swap books?”

“Oh, come on! You know Rosanne and I could talk forever!”

Alex laughed. “That’s true.” He placed the book back on the pile. “Who’s idea was the book swap?”

I got up and gathered the stack of books in my arms and began walking to my bedroom. “We’d been talking on the phone one day and realized we liked the same types of books. I thought about all the books I’d been saving and asked if she’d like to get together and swap.”

Alex had followed me to the bedroom and watched as I dropped the books on my bed. I went over to my bedside table and began rearranging my ‘to read’ pile to make room for the new books.

I looked over at Alex and sighed. “There was one sad moment for me while we were exchanging books though.”

“What?”

“Well, Rosanne would hold up one of her books and give me this wonderful detailed book review.” I sighed again. “I, on the other hand, was more like a dementia book reviewer. I’d hold up one of my books and say, ‘I liked this one.’”

Alex started to laugh. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I honestly couldn’t remember what the book was about!”

“Then how would you know you liked the book if you couldn’t remember the story?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Because I’d remember I liked it by the cover.”

Alex sat down on the edge of the bed and handed me the books as I placed them on the shelf of my bedside table.

“Well, didn’t she forget any of the books she’d read?” he asked.

I shook my head again. “Nope, not really. I mean she might look on the inside flap to jog her memory but she could still go into some great detail.” I sat back on my heels and looked at Alex. “You want to hear a really embarrassing moment?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Sure.”

I placed one hand on my heart as I raised my other hand in the air. “I swear this actually happened. I picked up a book from her pile and said, I heard this one was good. Then looked over at my pile and saw that I had it.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I’d already read it!”

Alex laughed. “Oh, come on! That’s funny!”

I shook my head again. “Or a little bit scary.”

My son Alex and I were sitting outside trying to get some sun when the quiet we had been enjoying was interrupted by the screech of several blue jays. We looked over at the feeders where a dozen or so house finches and chickadees were eating. One of the blue jays landed on top of the feeder and began screeching until all the birds that had been eating scattered to the nearby trees.

“Look, at him.” I said as I pointed to the blue jay. “He doesn’t even want anything to eat he’s just going to sit on the top of the feeders making sure no one else can get anything.”

Alex looked over at him. “Do you think he knows he’s being a jerk?”

“I’m pretty sure he does.” I pointed to all the other jays screeching at him as if egging him on.

“They’re all kind of acting like jerks.”

It was at that moment a cooper hawk swooped down just missing the blue jay at the top of the feeder.

“Whoa!” I looked over at Alex. “Did you see that?”

Alex looked up in the tree that the cooper hawk landed in. The blue jays weren’t far behind as they followed the hawk up in the tree and surrounded him, screeching the whole time.

“Okay, maybe they weren’t acting like jerks. Maybe they were warning the other birds that there was trouble around.”

We listened as the jays kept it up until finally the hawk lifted off the branch and went further into the neighborhood. The blue jays keeping up their verbal assault as they followed him.

I looked over at the feeders as the smaller birds began slowly coming out of hiding and flocking back, chirping to one another as they began pecking at the bird seed again.

I laughed as I pointed to the feeder. “It’s like watching the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Glinda the good witch tells the Munchkins that it’s safe to come out of hiding.”

A few minutes later the blue jays were back and were quieter now.

“Well, I guess the danger is over.” I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

It was seconds before I heard a blue jay begin screeching again. I opened my eyes and saw the jay on top of the feeder again and all the smaller birds had scattered.

I looked over at the the other jays sitting on the branches close by but this time they were slient. The jay on top of the feeder was hopping back and forth his ear piercing screech beginning to get on my nerves. I looked over at Alex. “What do you think his problem is now?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he’s looking for a thank you?”

I shook my head. “Okay, fine.” I got up and went to the container on the deck where I kept the bird seed and also a bag of peanuts. I grabbed a handful of peanuts and threw them out in the yard near the blue jays.

All the jays came out of the trees, landed in the grass, grabbing peanuts in their beaks before flying back into the trees.

I went back to my seat next to Alex and sat down and looking over at the feeders where the smaller birds were back and eating. “You’re welcome!” I called to them.

“What?” Alex looked confused.

“I just paid off their debt for the use of the blue jay muscle.” I looked over at the blue jays as they were busy eating their peanuts before I leaned back and closed my eyes again. “Finally, some peace and quiet.”

Even though it was a chilly winter afternoon my son Alex and I decided we still wanted to go for a walk.

Getting in the car we headed to one of our favorite parks. Parking by the rugby field, we thought the tree lined path that surrounded the field would be the perfect wind break. Once I was out of the car I pulled the zipper of my coat high enough so that the collar was now up around my ears and partially covering my mouth. “Okay, I’m ready!”

As we headed for the path I couldn’t help but notice that there was still some green peeking out at the edge of the path. As I bent down I cradled a beautifully scalloped leaf in the palm of my hand. “I didn’t realized there would still be some green now.” I looked up at Alex. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Alex looked down. “I guess so. It looks like a leaf.”

I smiled as I got back up. “You know that book your Dad gave me for Christmas?” I brushed some dirt off my pants. “The one about Emily Dickinson’s gardening life?”

Alex nodded as we started to walk again. “Are you liking it?”

I looked around, noticing things I hadn’t noticed before. “I have to say it’s making me see nature in a whole new way.”

“How?”

“Emily kept a herbarium.”

Alex looked over at me. “A what?”

I had to laugh. “I know, I never heard of it either. She collected local flowers and leaves, pressed them and dried them before mounting them in a book. Then she’d write where she collected it from, it’s scientific name, and some general observation she had. That kind of book is called a herbarium.”

I stopped again at the edge of the path and bent down. “Are those strawberries?” I looked at the tiny red fruit laying on a bed of green leaves. I looked back up at Alex. “I can’t believe they’re still here.” I got up and brushed my hands together. “I guess we haven’t had our first frost yet.”

Alex started to laugh. “Okay, Farmer Miele.”

Now I had to laugh. “I guess her book is inspiring me to see more details in nature.” We began walking again, quietly listening to the geese flying overhead when I got an idea. I turned to Alex. “I think I’m going to start a new hobby this year!”

Alex looked over at me. “Doing what?”

“I’m going to make my own herbarium!” I stopped again and reached down to pick a leaf. I held it up to him. “I’ll start today with this wild violet leaf.”

“Are you sure that’s a wild violet leaf?”

I looked again at it’s delicate scalloped leaf and shrugged my shoulders.. “I’m pretty sure it is.” I held it gently in the palm of my hand. “I’ll look it up later just to make sure, but that’s part of the fun! Investaging all my new finds!” I looked over at Alex and smiled. “I have a new hobby!”

“Congratulations!” Alex laughed as he patted me on the back and we began to walk again. “This hobby sounds like it will be a lot more fun than your last hobby.”

I was confused as I looked over at Alex. “Which hobby was that?”
“The one where you collected big rocks.”

I snorted laugh. “I’m still collecting those! I haven’t finished the path I’m making with them that go through our woods to the shed.”

“Oh.” Alex sounded disappointed.

Now it was my turn to pat him on the back. “I know it can get a little embarrassing when I find a good rock and want to bring it home.”

Alex laughed. “I have to admit it will feel less weird seeing you walk around holding a flower or a leaf then when you’re carrying a huge rock back to the car.”

“That’s the fun when you’re out in nature.” We were back to the car and as I was reaching in my pocket for the keys I looked at Alex across the roof of the car and held up my leaf. “You never know what you’re going to find!”

Merry Christmas everyone! I wrote this one when my son Alex was six years old and thought I’d share it again.

Last week my six year old son, Alex asked the question I’ve been dreading to hear at Christmas.

“Is there really a Santa Claus?

I couldn’t help but think back to the incident that had me asking that same question.

I was seven years old and it was Christmas Eve. My two sisters and I were sent to bed with the order that we needed to be asleep before Santa arrived. It was the ‘or else’ part that had me nervous, because no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t get to sleep.

When my older sister, Liz decided to become song leader for a round of Christmas carols, it seemed like a good idea, until the bickering started. We couldn’t agree on what Christmas song to sing. None of us knew an entire carol, so halfway through we’d have to fill in the parts we didn’t know with Fa-La-La’s. We were getting annoyed with one another and the discussion was getting pretty heated.

Suddenly we heard a noise up on the roof. We all got quiet and listened to the scuffling, whispering and crinkling of paper.

Santa was on the roof! Or maybe he was in the attic. It didn’t matter where he was, he was on our property!

We began whispering to each other to get to sleep, and hurry, or we’d find out what the ‘or else’ part really meant.

But then Liz looked out the window and whispered, “I see Rudolph’s nose!”

We raced to her side. But no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t see that red shining nose. Not wanting to argue with my older sister, I pretended to see it too. Rudolph’s nose only emphasized the fact that Santa was at our house and we were still awake!

The banging upstairs was getting louder and then we heard a loud CRASH! It sounded like Santa had fallen.

Oh no! What if he was hurt? What if he needed help?

What we heard next came as a surprise to all of us. Santa was cussing! The three of us looked at one another, our eyes wide with shock.

That’s when we heard our Mom tell Santa to be quiet. Oh, my gosh! Now I was in a panic. Santa would never stay at a house where a Mom was telling him to be quiet!

When we heard Santa answer we noticed he sounded a lot like our older brother. Could this be a coincidence? We were beginning to doubt it.

We raced to our bedroom door, calling out to our Mom, “Is that Santa? Is he here?”

Our Mom wasn’t very quick to answer. It seems she had been busy checking out the damage my brother had done when he’d fallen through the ceiling of our linen closet. But when she did finally answer it was to tell us to get back to bed before Santa found out we were still awake.

That was enough to send us all flying back under the covers closing our eyes and pretending we were asleep.

When I think back to that night I wonder if I really wanted her to tell us the truth?

I don’t think so.

So when I looked at my son who was asking me if there really was a Santa Claus I answered the only way I knew how.

“Well…Santa’s magic still works for me.” I smiled as I saw the look of relief come over his face. “I hope it still does for you too.”

It was first thing in the morning when I sat down at my dining room table, moved my tea cup out of the way, and opened up my laptop.

My son Alex came into the room. “What are you up to today?” he asked.

I took a sip of my tea as I pointed to my screen waiting for it to warm up. “Getting ready to go into my first Google meet.”

Alex looked out the dining room window at the snow that was still coming down hard. “I guess that’s the end of snow days for you this year.”

“Yup.” I began to type in my password. “It’s kind of silly to have a snow day when you’re virtual.”

My school district decided to have everyone on virtual until at least the middle of January.

“How’s the virtual thing going?” he asked as he went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

I’d just gotten into my first class, which happened to be a group of kindergartners. I had my camera off and my microphone on mute as I looked around at the array of faces looking at their screens.

It was hard not to just shake your head in disbelief at the students who were still in their pajamas, some still eating their breakfast. Others were clutching stuff animals or wrapped in their favorite blanket. A few had Santa hats on while one had a pair of light up Christmas tree glasses. They were all busy talking to one another while they waited for all the students to join the meet.

“It’s going about as good as you’d expect with little ones when it’s only a week before Christmas and it’s a snow day.” I watched as one of the students did a back flip on her living room couch. “Well, I have to say, that was impressive.”

I got up to go into the kitchen to get another cup of tea. “I think at this point we’re all just happy they’re coming to class. Nobody is saying anything about dress codes or don’t bring toys to your work space or how about we don’t play with our pets when you’re at virtual school.”

Alex looked down at my pajama pants and slippers. “Maybe you might want to look into the dress code yourself.”

“Hey!” I pointed to my button down shirt and sweater. “I put on make-up! I’ve done my hair!” I looked down at my slippers. “No one sees me from the waist down so as far as they know I got dressed for school.”

Alex laughed as he went into the refrigerator to get the milk. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “You know I usually put on pants when we’re virtual.” I looked out the window watching the snow come down ever faster than before and sighed. “But if we were physically in school we’d have today off.” I wiggled my toes in my fur lined slippers. “This makes me feel better about not having a snow day.”

I could hear the teacher telling the students it was time to put themselves on mute. That class was about to start. “It’s time to start school.” I said as I headed back to the dining room table.

“Hey, don’t you usually make hot chocolate on a snow day?” Alex said as he reached into the cabinet and brought out the box of hot chocolate mix.

I smiled as I pointed to the screen. “I was planning on making it when they take their snack break. Do you want one?”

“Sure.” Alex headed back to his room. “Call me when it’s snack time.”

Alex and I were on a walk through the neighborhood when we came across a kindness rock tucked in the split of a tree. “Oh my gosh! Would you look at that!” I pointed to the bright turquoise painted rock with a heart painted on top of it saying “Love”.

“I’ve found kindness rocks before but this is a great spot to put one in.” I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching us before stepping closer to the tree. “I have to admit I’d really like to take this one home.” I looked over at Alex. “What do you think?”

Alex looked confused. “What would you do with it?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Just keep it.”

“Where?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’d leave it on the kitchen counter.” I had to smile as an idea popped into my head. “This way every time one of us walked into the kitchen we’d see it and it would remind us of how loved we are.”

“You need a rock to tell you that?” Alex’s eyebrows were raised as he asked the question.

“Come on!” I cried. “I like it!”

“Hey if you like it that much then go ahead…” I started to move toward the tree when Alex finished his sentence. “But wouldn’t more people be able to see it if you just left it right there?”

I sighed. I hated when he was the voice of reason. “I suppose you’re right.” But then I had another thought. “Wait!” I pointed my finger at him. “There was a girl at school who made these all the time!” I was shaking my finger at him now wanting him to understand my thoughts. “I remember she said you could keep them…” I raised my eyebrows as I gave him a knowing look. “Or, you’re suppose to move them to another spot for someone else to find.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever you want to do.”

“Hey, I didn’t make up the kindness rock rules.” I smiled as I went over and took it down from the tree. Looking at it up close and in my hands I could now feel just how smooth it was. I was still smiling as I tucked it in my pocket. “There you go.” I said before giving the outside of my pocket a little tap. “Now it’s time to find you a new home.”

We continued on our walk as I scanned the neighborhood looking for another spot.

“Having a hard time finding a place to put it?” Alex asked as we got closer to our house.

“I really am.” I said as I patted my pocket again. “That split tree was a really the perfect spot.” I sighed again as I looked at Alex. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to find a better spot than that.”

Alex looked over at me and started to laugh. “You’re keeping it aren’t you?”

I nodded my head slowly not looking at him. “It seems I’ll have to.”

Alex was still laughing. “Why do you go to so much trouble inventing a whole story when you knew you were going to keep it right from the start?”

I shrugged my shoulders “I don’t know why.” I said as I looked back at him and smiled. “But somehow it makes me feel better.”