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Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology The Limits of Imagination the Down in the Dirt January - April 2024 issues collection book		get the 422 page January - April 2024 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Downsizing Surprise

Patricia Brawley

It was time.
I downsized.
Loved stuff and old rituals
squeezed into new spaces.
I still brewed morning coffee and
looked out the kitchen window, now
to a different view—and one I didn’t like.
Ropes of dried vines hung from
the neighbor’s tree behind my fence.
The neighbor had downsized too, moved away.
Maybe I could convince a tree trimmer
to whack out the dried vines.
This began the morning internal dialog, story after story
leaving me feeling helpless.

Why hadn’t I looked out the window before choosing this house?
Who tells you to do that?

Spring came and the joke was on me.
I still brewed coffee and looked out the window.
One morning I couldn’t believe my eyes!
The vines, which I thought were dead, were alive!
Beautiful purple wisteria now cascaded and draped
through the tree by my fence. Breathtaking.

I had wasted time judging nature and feeling helpless
to fix something that was already perfect.
Another life lesson.

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