My Room with a View

                                       

 I had such a beautiful view of the lake with swans floating serenely by,

their white coats glistening like pearls in the sun. I would sit at my

window mesmerized, no thinking, no feeling, no moving, just staring.

Nature at it's most serene and peaceful.

When the time came for me to move, my daughter made the rounds of all the

'Senior Homes' in the area and then called me with the good news.

"I can't wait to see the apartment, " I said, "and the swans..."

"Swans?" she interrupted.

"Or ducks, geese,...love them all...gulls...the way they float on the air..."

"Ma, one sec..."She  pulled her chair closer to me ," I have to tell you

 more about the new place..."

" I'm sure I'm going to love it, you always know what I like."

She put her hand up; "Let's just go there."

We got into the car, Debbie drove to the other side of town and onto the 

driveway of a white stucco building. We walked through the flowered

patio, into the lobby and took the elevator to the third floor.

"This is it, " said Debbie, turning the key to a blue room with white  and

yellow flowered wallpaper.

"Mmm, lovely" I said,walking quickly to the wall of windows overlooking

the...the what?? Not a lake, not a pond...no swans or ducks... "What is 

that?"  I burst out, pointing to the scene outside.

"Ma, sit down, I'll tell you."

"Tell me!"

"But first, calm down. Okay, it's a construction site. They're building a.."

she paused, "automobile repair garage."

"Oh." My breath caught in my throat; "No lake, no swans or ducks...?"

"No, but look, there's a pigeon over there. See it, on the crane, near

the truck and one near the man in the orange vest...?"

I shook my head and turned quickly away from the window,"Let's go".

"Are you alright?" asked Debbie.

I couldn't answer, I was choking on my disappointment.

But everything else about the Senior Home was satisfactory so a

month later I moved into it. 'If I need to see swans it's just a short

drive to the town park where I could get all the serenity I could 

stand!' I told  myself.

But it was a few weeks before I was able to sit at that window, and

wow! Men in orange vests were going up and down on ladders  to a

newly appearing wall, cranes were moving, bulldozers digging, piling

soil onto  a growing hill of soil. It was the opposite of 'serene and peaceful'.

But so interesting, watching a structure being created from the ground up.

From nothing to something! I started sitting at the window early in the

morning when  they started working, then lhad my lunch sandwich there

and later in the day when I got home I'd check in again. I'd never seen

anything being built before; it was fascinating.

I missed my swans and ducks but I tried not to think about it.

When Mother's Day came Debbie and the children came to see me,

carrying a large gift box. "This is for you Grandma."

"What is it?" I asked."You'll see Ma," said Debbie, laughing as she untied

 the ribbon and removed the gift wrapping. From inside the box she took

 out 1, 2, 3, gleaming white ceramic swans.

"I know exactly where they should go,'" she said and carried them one at a time and

placed them on the window sill.

So, now my swans and I watch my new nature, the construction scene together

every day.

                                              THE END


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