Whew! I’m happy to say that things resumed their normal pace today. No more dead rats in my pool. I have plenty of coffee at the house. And, to the best of my knowledge, there haven’t been any suspected drug-related murders with bodies burned beyond recognition found a mile from my house. And… as if that’s not enough, our neighborhood was also free of stolen car pursuits, ending in accidents and foot pursuits.
It was marvelous to get back to a normal routine where I could rest easy and focus on getting work done. It felt great to see my kids smile again and get most of the things that have been piling up on my “to do list” checked off.
In a final attempt to get back to normal, I dragged my oldest daughter, still a little spooked from yesterday’s events, along with me on a five-mile walk early this evening. She was hesitant of the concept, fearful that we’d be out after dark. But once I assured her we’d be back well before it got dark, she agreed to join me.
Walking along, I shared with her the route I planned to take. When she realized that we would pass right by the scenes of yesterday’s incidents, she became resistant. But…after a little gentle prodding and offering that we could take another route home, she took a deep breath and decided to go the way I had planned.
In the end, we not only passed the newsworthy spots of yesterday, but I had us slow to view them. By this time my daughter had relaxed enough to take in the sights with objectivity without allowing them to intimidate her. And I couldn’t have been more thrilled, seeing as that had been my plan—to get her over her anxiety as quickly as possible before it had a chance to stifle her.
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