Such a lovely day it is today, a gift after the cold and before the rain. I ventured out on the deck for a bit to enjoy the warmth. A small breeze was blowing the hanging leaves together, and I imagined unseen spirits walking in the yard on the bed of crisp, brown leaves. Gracie stood beside me and surveyed her kingdom. Though she was ever alert, nothing caught her eye and we both came inside together.

I have been watching the Hallmark Christmas movies. I joke and say I’ll have to be more cautious about my sugar intake, but I am such a sucker for happy endings.

The other night my headlights shined on a small cat in the middle of the road. I stopped. She gave my car a quick look, saw she was safe and returned to the task at hand. She was chasing a mouse. I could see both of them in the light. The mouse went only so far before the cat pounced and dragged it back. They did that again and again. At one point I could see the tail of the mouse hanging from the cat’s mouth then the mouse was back on the ground running. I decided to do a u-turn so the cat warily watched the car moving losing track of the mouse but only for a bit. Once she realized I wasn’t going her way, the hunt was back on and the cat chased the mouse into the underbrush. That was the last I saw of both of them.