every moment was filled...
at 11:00 a.m. I had thought to myself..."if I had this time alone I would take a nap"...
I don't remember the last time I laid down in the middle of the day...
or sat down for that matter...

now, at 9:00 p.m....
alone with just the dogs curled and sleeping nearby...
it's quiet...
and this time is my own...

the ceiling fan spins...
the dull sound of a distant television from three rooms away...
no passing traffic...
not a single bark from dogs bored behind fences...

just the steady whirl of air overhead created by five wooden blades spinning...
the creak from a pantry door opening...

the neighbors arrive home with voices that invade my room...
quickly gone with the closing of their front door...

the quiet returns...
this is as soothing as a warm cup of milk...