If I Had my Druthers

From Mama Kat’s Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop,prompt number one for Thursday, July 24:

9 things you’d rather be doing today

I would have rather started my day on the back deck with a cup of coffee

And it would have been even better if that back deck was actually a dock that extended into a lake

A lake that is quiet and inviting first thing in the morning

The only movement a slight ripple caused by the fish skimming the surface of the water

The only sound that of a loon diving down for breakfast and resurfacing with a call to its mate for breakfast

And rather than going to work after my coffee and crossword, I’d join the loons in the lake for a quick swim, just to wake up, just to get me going

And I’d float…just float and listen and watch and appreciate my little world

Rather than rushing out the door after slapping kisses on Sean and Lucy, I’d wake them up and cajole them into a morning swim in the lakes with the loons and me

Rather than rushing off in three directions, we’d lazily float, then have a splashing fight, then try to catch fish with a rock at the end of a piece of string tied to a branch

We’d call back to the loons and try to guess where they would pop up after diving down for a second breakfast

Rather than answering phones, or sitting in front of a computer calculating profits and use tax, I’d finish at least one of the four books I am reading or find another one I keep meaning to read

And maybe, just maybe, take a little nap in between

Rather than eating lunch in my desk and picking crumbs out from between the keys of my keyboard, I’d pack a basket of fruit, bread and cheese (and a piece of chocolate or two) , find a weeping willow tree to hide under while nibbling my snacks and lazily flipping through the stacks of unread magazines littering the house

Then I would definitely take a nap

And rather than walking down the hall to someone’s office, I’d take a walk through a field of poppies or lavender or blue bells just because it is there to be admired

Rather than racing through the end of my day, jumping in the car and rushing off to pick up Lucy to rush home to rush through making lunches for the next day to rush through dinner before bath time and bedtime, we’d swim some more, eat watermelon and ice cream sandwiches for dinner then lay on the dock as the sun sets with our fingers dangling in the water and the loons singing us songs about their day

And rather than sending Lucy off to bed so we can finish paying bills, cleaning up, going through the three week old stack of mail and trying to figure out what we’ve not done in the course of the day, we’d fall asleep on the dock in lawn chairs with blankets up to our chins, stars as our night lights and the path of the moon on the water to follow right to morning