Today was just another wacky weather day here in Michigan, with the wind gusting at 30 mph while I sipped coffee, ate my oatmeal and contemplated my morning, I had intended to take a leisurely stroll but the blustery weather didn’t sound so conducive for walking. A few errands had accumulated and I needed some groceries, so I settled on getting ‘er done in one fell swoop before this funky sleet/snow mix settles in this coming Sunday … then I’ll want to stay hunkered down in the house.

So I forsook foot power today and set out to tool around town on four wheels instead. Though my vehicle is not equipped with runners, or hauled by reindeer, nor is it candy apple red like Santa’s sleigh, it did enable me to dash to and fro in record time in an effort to make merry at every place that I stopped.

Merry Christmas to the City. The tax bill arrived in yesterday’s mail, so I went to pay it. I stood in line waiting with everyone else as we queued up, snaking through the Treasurer’s office and down the hall. It is the giving season after all, and, like me, so many people were there to part with their money this close to the holidays. You would have thought it was a grand sale going on. So, my bank balance is lighter but I gave a much-needed uplift to the City coffers.

Next, a trip to the Good Will box to donate some brand-new shoes. These feet, which have trod so many miles this year, have not shrunk a half-size, or even better a whole size to comfortably fit in those loafers again. Nope, it hasn’t happened yet and won’t happen down the road. But, perhaps someone will make better use of them than I do having them repose in the shoe pockets in my closet for more years than I care to count.

Next, I drove to church to light my December and Christmas candles to remember family members I have lost and to offer them Christmas blessings in this upcoming holiday season. I was all alone and the church was very still and dark as I walked up the wide aisle to where the two sets of votive candle stands were. The large and small candles, with their wavering lights, flickered and cast shadows on the nearby alter. The peacefulness was suddenly broken as I heard a child’s laugh in the church school and then murmuring, perhaps a prayer, or reciting poetry? As I was walking back down the aisle to leave the church I heard singing … probably a Christmas song, young voices guided by one of the Sisters with a pitch pipe and alot of patience.

Finally, I landed at Meijer, the one place I avoided for nearly two weeks as I didn’t want to get caught up in the pre-Thanksgiving or post-Thanksgiving crush. However, it was my misfortune that today was part two of a two-day sale and the store was jam-packed. I parked my cart and ambled around the store, perusing the walnuts for my squirrel buddy but deciding they don’t sell loose walnuts and I was not going to buy him walnut meats, no matter what an endearing little fella he is. I did, however, buy two more bags of peanuts. In the bread aisle, I picked two unusually long loaves of bread to store in the fridge. As I piled my feathered friends’ bread stash next to my meager own, I thought to myself that although I may not be wealthy, what I have may surely be shared with God’s creatures.