The Cat is back - sitting on the garden wall basking in the sun.  It won't be there for long though, I think there is going to be rain today.  I smile as the cat stretches itself back, its front paws digging into the brick with tail poker-straight, up in the air.  It sits back, lifts one paw and gracefully begins to wash.  Isn't life simple for a cat?  It takes care of its needs and therefore it is happy.  Other cats don't really come into the equation.  Even motherhood and the carefully worded ‘mating' are dealt with in that same dutiful fashion; then when it is all over life returns to normal.  If only it did.

I find I am noticing things more now I am home alone.  The weather for example!  Before, I would have only noticed the rain when it affected me - interfered with my plans or laundry schedule.  But now?  The sound of the rain is beautiful, like music.  The first drops of rain on the windowsill are so loud and then when the heavens open it feels like I am the only person in the world eavesdropping on a celestial concert.  It is truly magical to hear. 

The cat is relaxing again now, flopped onto its side with its head back facing the sky.  It is still alert though, always alert.  I can see its ear twitch as a bird lands on a nearby feeder.  Always the predator.

Behind me the kitchen clock is ticking; tick, tock, never stops.  Time doesn't stop.  No matter how much you may want it to.  No matter how still you sit and how hard you concentrate on each precious second.  The clock keeps ticking and tocking, rushing you through the hours; and the sun keeps rising and setting pushing you through each day.  I never realized before what that actually meant.  But the cat realizes, as cats do.  And he soaks up each moment like it is his last.

I always seemed to be enticed by the latest TV drama, or worked up by the menu plan, the laundry, the shopping, the meetings, the paperwork and the million and one other things that simply have to be done right now.  I have all the time in the world now.  Time to appreciate the little moments of beauty in life:  Time to notice what the weather is like:  Time to feel like I truly am living.