by Marry Wakefield Buxton –
Urbanna, Va. — What’s there to do today? Not much. The first excitement is feed the menagerie. “Dandy” is the only legitimate pet, so he gets a slice of ham on top of a cup of dry dog food. Later he hopes for a crust of toast or a bite of scrambled egg, which he carefully removes from my fork as if afraid he might catch human germs.
Then, the stray cats. Many neighbors put out food for feral cats that live in the ravine on Obert Street. Vickie on the other end of Kent Street feeds “Pepper,” who spends his days in the storm drains off Rappahannock checking out rat populations. She leaves him a little tin dish that she fills faithfully each day with cat food.
Pepper shows up at my feeding station, too, along with “Tweedy,” “Blackie,” “Curly,” “Smudge” and “Gracie.” “Popeye” used to come, but he was hit by a car on Rappahannock Avenue. Odd how I miss his wide yellow-eyed stare.
Only the best for the birds. I like feeding cardinals, wrens and sparrows, but blackbirds get most of my daily offerings. They are cheeky birds. After they finish the seed they stalk over to the cat food like generals surveying the battlefield and finish every morsel. One perches on the holly tree and fearlessly zooms in right in front of Curly napping on the patio chair. Curly doesn’t try to snag the blackbird as he is too fast for a cat.
“Sammy,” the Squirrel, and his three cousins arrive next. They wait for the cats to leave and then come down the pine tree off the roof one at a time to work over the sunflower seeds. They will also remove bread crusts, grapes, raisins and any other scraps of food I throw out to them, if they can beat the pigeons, that is.
At night “Ricky” Raccoon comes in to eat anything left over followed at long last by the “Vacuum Cleaner,” Possum. Over the years I have found the only foods the night feeders will not eat are sweet potato skins, tomatoes and broccoli stalks. They will patiently lick out the last of the sweet potato pulp, however, leaving the skins nicely lined up for removal of the garbage collector (me) the next morning.
I make breakfast for the two humans who live here and am rewarded with a nice cup of tea afterwards while Chip puts dishes in the dishwasher. A good husband helps with dishes. There’s a pleasant read of the newspaper waiting, in spite of all the bad news, a crossword or two and household chores.
Time for lunch. Back to the kitchen to prepare something to eat and manage clean up. It always amazes me how just two people can use so many dishes and pans each day.
But the real excitement is next, a walk around Urbanna, high point of the day. I look forward to seeing other people as I walk with short snatches of conversation all the time keeping my six-foot distance so we won’t spread the virus. I hope to see a neighbor or two: one of the Blankenships from next door, maybe Bill Hight pulling out from his driveway in his gray truck, Rick working in his yard, the Goldsmiths and their new puppy or Padre Tim from across the street.
I’m always happy to see the dogs of Urbanna. There’s my favorites, “Ellie” and “Lance” (who is battling cancer in his throat) and a cute chiwawa at the corner of Cross and they all love Dandy. Patsy’s beautiful goldens sometimes come out to meet us, “Belle,” “Max,” and “Lincoln.” There’s a new corgi on the corner of Cross and Cottage and there I spot our county supervisor, Pete, hammering away on the house he is redoing across the street.
But the best is yet to come. I head for the post office bench where I see dozens of people to chat with staying the allotted distance. Kerry, Lucille, Susan, Jody, Warren, Kathy … and many other passersby. My head spins from social contact.
It’s soon time to return home to cook dinner. Per chance to dream — I am donning evening clothes, make up and jewelry, the way we used to dress when we went out for dinner in the old days — candlelight, fresh flowers and table linen at Eckhard’s Restaurant, Robie hugging me at the door, Missy’s cheerful greeting, Don’s fabulous prime rib roast beef au jus, wine, topped off with German chocolate cake, ganache sauce, alamode, whipped cream and a cherry on the top.
Sigh. My reverie ends as I dish up my special recipe of tuna casserole and a Netflix movie before bedtime. And I am so very, very grateful for this big day in Urbanna. © 2020
