Calm before the storm

I sit here in a quiet home, looking out the front dining room window at the clouds and sunrise, having heard the Canada geese earlier this morning as they flew down to the ponds out front.  My coffee, still hot, in its insulated mug.

Not a lot is on tap for today, other than the impending delivery of a refrigerator.  It should be here in about 15min according to the driver.  That's why I am sitting here in the dining room looking out my front window, and not out back on the pool deck.

After having lived in the second house off of a major in-town 4-lane road, I have forgotton how quiet, quiet can be!  I can hear the songbirds out back singing of the impending spring, and of today's storms inbound.  I can hear the soft tick-tick of the library ceiling fan.  What I cannot hear is the whine of traffic, the rumble of big trucks, and the scream of the PD/FD sirens.  Thirteen years of living next to that much noise, I had become used to it.  Numb to it.

Besides the various feathered wildlife, so far we have only seen the next  door neighbor's well fed cats.  There's a standard orange tabby, and a black and white blotchy one.  I think they are friendly--they certainly seem to enjoy exploring my yard!  What a rude shock they will be in for this coming weekend, when my babies, all 90# apiece, of Ridgeback, show up and invade the neighborhood!  We are building a nice large dog run for them in the side yard,  but cats have little respect for fences...they will learn, though!

A short while later, and the fridge is delivered and installed.  In a day, they said, it will be cold enough for use.  The delivery guys were lucky they got here early.  The storms are growing in strength, having already set off the tornado sirens in Tarrant County (Ft Worth area), and it's not even 9:00am yet.  Hopefully, all we will see here is the rain.  My morning is still calm and peaceful.  I hope it remains so.