The minutia of everyday life ate my day yesterday. Spent the morning picking up the house in preparation for the arrival of the lady who helps clean the house. Then I went and got a haircut. It’s a 30-minute drive into Marble Falls and 30 minutes back. The cleaning lady arrived just as I got home. I started my laundry. Three batches, darks, whites, underwear. They each have their own cycle. She cleaned. I washed and folded. We chatted as we worked.

I ate leftover etouffee for lunch. Then went upstairs to my old office and read a book. It’s now a guest room and a comfortable place to get away. In the afternoon I went shopping for dinner. I decided to have tamales. No idea why that struck me as a good idea. Bought some refried beans, guacamole, chips and ranchero sauce. It came together, but not in a very satisfactory sense. Suffice it to say, I ate dinner, but there will be no bragging about it. But that’s why you try things, to see what you like, and not everything will work.

Evening passed into night, and I went to bed satisfied with my day. Somewhere in there I also read a book. It’s an old book I read long ago and decided I needed to refresh my memory. I’m glad I did. It’s fun reading once again, because my new lenses coupled with reading glasses make the words sharp and clear and there’s none of the previous strain I endured when cataracts clouded out the light. And now here I am on the cusp of a new day. The trash can sits at the street waiting to be emptied. The cats are fed. The sun lights the morning sky. And this sentence completes another of my morning rituals.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale