Good morning! I sat my alarm for 8 this morning. I am trying to get back into the swing of a schedule. Not one of those crazy go to work 9-5 eat lunch at exactly 11:45, get coffee at 2 then come home, eat, sleep and do it again schedules. I HATE that kind of schedule and if it is up to me, I'll never do it again. No, I'm just talking about the sort of schedule where you wake up before the sun has fully risen and complete as many tasks as possible during the day, then go to bed when you are sleepy schedules. The kind that God intended us to follow.
When I first moved back to Dallas from Tyler, about 15 years ago I lived in Rowlett for a few years. I was renting a little place by the lake. I could see Lake Ray Hubbard from my front door. I had both a front yard and backyard. The property management company took care of the front yard, so it was fairly boring and ugly. I took care of the backyard which was fenced in. I planted grass on one side of the sidewalk leading to my detached garage. On the other side of the sidewalk, when I moved in, there was a bog. There was really not much that could be done for it so I dug the weeds all out, brought a load of dirt in to fill in the low areas, then covered it in plastic and put rocks over it. That became the place where I put my picnic table and it became a nice backyard. I planted rose bushes and had all sorts of flowers growing in my little yard. That was not what I had planned to write about. But while I was on the topic of my place in Rowlett, I just decided to throw it in as a bonus. You're welcome.
Anyway, I moved to Rowlett in the 90's. It was much smaller then than it is now. I had wanted to live over there because it seemed like more of a small town atmosphere and after having lived in Tyler for the previous 6 months, I really wanted that.
Many things about Dallas appeal to me. I think I could easily be one of those people who lives in a high rise in uptown. I would like being able to walk out of my building and immediately be a part of a city. I like the anonymity of city living. I have always been a loner. I don't like to stick out in a crowd. When I get singled out for any reason I get angry. I'm one of those people who panics when a group of waiters come in my direction with a piece of birthday cake with a candle in it. Even if my birthday is months away and I know they are not bringing it to me, I fear that I will become the center of attention in a crowded restaurant and I hate that thought. So, to be nice, instead of calling me a freak or a hermit... how about if we just call me a "blender". I like to blend in. I don't want to be the one sprig of celery in the veggie cocktail that didn't get ground into juice. I want to be part of the drink. Maybe that means I'm not so much a blender as a blendee.... I'll leave that to you to figure out.
Anyway, again that is not where I was going with this entry. I have lived in many different places in my life. Just as an adult, I have moved into and lived in 14 different places starting with my first apartment in college and ending with the condo that I have lived in for nearly 9 years. I was a nomad before buying this place. I have lived in this house longer than I have lived anywhere in my life. (We lived on Nottingham for about 8 years when I was growing up.) I think this is the perfect spot for me. It is actually in Dallas, although just barely. But the people who live around me don't have the small town, chat with everybody vibe that you get in say, Wylie. For the most part everybody has something to do or someplace to be so they don't waste time trying to dig into my business.
It's close enough to downtown that during non-rush hour, I can get in my car and either using the Tollway or 75 be downtown in 20 minutes or so. If I choose to take mass transportation, I can be at the train station in 10 minutes and downtown in 45 minutes. It just fits me. I like the options that living in a place like this affords me. But there is something to be said for living in a small town. There are a lot of things about it that you miss from time to time. The most amazing thing happened when I moved into my house in Rowlett that I will never forget.
The first night in a new place is always very interesting to me. That first night, you lie in bed and you hear all of the sounds that your new home makes as it goes to sleep for the night. The creaking and groaning, the traffic noises outside, the airplanes flying overhead. If the home has a ghost, that is when I imagine, it would make itself known. In Rowlett I heard a lot of crickets and some creaking as I went to sleep but not much else. Around 4:30 on my first morning in Rowlett was when the amazing thing happened. A rooster crowed. He was an adamant rooster. He had a job and he knew what it was. Wake up Rowlett. That was why God had put him there and that was what he was going to do. He crowed and crowed and crowed for about 30 minutes and then he stopped. That first morning, I thought perhaps something was after him and had caught him. But in the 2 years that I lived in Rowlett I came to realize that it was just his routine. He woke up at 4:30, attempted to wake the rest of Rowlett for 30 minutes and then he went about the rest of his daily business. For 2 years, I was awakened at 4:30 every morning by a rooster. After the first few weeks, I grew accustomed to it and went back to sleep after hearing the initial crow or two. But without looking at my clock, I always knew that I had another hour to sleep before my electronic alarm would go off.
You know how great it is when you wake up during the night and look at the clock and know that you can go back to sleep and have another hour?!!?! I love that feeling. I got that feeling everyday for 2 years thanks to that rooster. Roosters really get the hole, do your job and then just move on philosophy. They don't harp on it all day. I've heard a few wacky ones, you know that crow at 3 in the afternoon or something. But I am pretty sure that they are just broken roosters... or maybe roosters in training. But a good rooster who knows his job is a really perfect creature.
So, cock-a-doodle-do my friends! Have a great day!
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