Will

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,

Can circumvent or hinder or control

The firm resolve of a determined soul.

Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;

All things give way before it, soon or late.

What obstacle can stay the mighty force

Of the sea-seaking river in its course,

Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?

Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.

Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate

Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,

Whose slightest action or inaction serves

The one great aim. Why, even Death stands still,

And waits an hour sometimes for such a will.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Two nights in a row with no midnight serenade! Could it be the mockingbird got a tweet that his life was in danger if he kept up the shenanigans outside my window? Rested and ready to seize the day, I started the coffee and went out to get the paper. It was soaked from the early morning rain. I placed the soggy sack in the trash and decided to ignore the person letting their dog crap without bothering to pick it up. We have strict rules in our neighborhood about that. First, renters are not allowed to have pets. Second, if renters have pets, they’re supposed to pick up the crap. Did I say strict rules? I meant voluntary rules intended for those who care to follow the rules.

I’ve been staying close to home for a couple of days because the HOA manager said someone was coming out to repair a leak we discovered after the first spring rain a few weeks ago. I guess when they told us it was fixed the first time what they meant was it could keep leaking or get worse. Someone was supposed to show up again today, but I think he really meant he’d be here sometime this month, not this week.

My troubles are small, just minor crap, a leaky roof. I am not oblivious to the facts that I have plenty of frequent flyer miles to keep me supplied with magazines for months and that I have time to wait around for a repairman since all I have on my calendar right now is to read, write and hit refresh to see if anyone purchased my book or left a comment on my blog. Oh yeah, and to exercise. Life is good.

This post had a bit of an evolution over the course of the day. Skipping the morning paper gave me time to explore sites I had been saving for a rainy day. Turns out, there are some sites I just should not visit. For instance, sites where the grammar police make it their mission in life to point out how often I am so very wrong. The intent is good and no doubt those sites are meant for the likes of me, but I should not go there. After the impulse to write ‘I will not go there again’ one-hundred times passed, I resigned to limit myself to punctuation I am certain to be correct and avoid compound sentences.