Sounds Like Hope

I hadn’t slept well again Saturday night. So I got up and watched a good Italian movie on EWTN about St. John Bosco ~ yesterday was his feast day. St. John Bosco has fascinated me for many years – he had prophetic dreams, which held me spellbound for a while; but now I know that he became a saint, not because of his dreams, but because of his love. He had faith in the goodness of the young boys of Turin, Italy and spent himself in an attempt, through works of charity, educating and catechizing the youth of Italy. He was the founder of the Salesian Society.

Anyway, it was a good movie and put a little whisper in my ear to give a nod to Don Bosco as I went to mass.

But poor Buddy. He likes his walks regular, needs to do his business, and as I was nodding off on the couch at 6am…he came over to sniff me. He didn’t complain. He didn’t understand that I hadn’t slept, he just trusted. 6:30 am rolled around and so did Buddy, wondering when I would get up. 7:22; I finally got up, put on a pot of coffee, donned my “outer wear” for his morning constitutional. He can always tell when it’s time; I think sounds of hope for Buddy is me putting on socks and sneakers. He starts to prance around my legs – he’s a big old dog and prancing isn’t so easy anymore (noooo kidding).

You’d be righteously horrified if you saw me some mornings on my walks with Buddy. My glorious mane of curls was in hazy bunches on my head sticking out askew of my hooded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sweatshirt and with the lack of sleep…well, I look like crazy lady.

But wasn’t I treated to my sounds of hope this morning! It’s a shame, I think, that the sunrise doesn’t come with music. I imagine it would have the resonance of a cello with a long clear note starting low and bursting to crescendo as it tipped up. Probably piss a lot of people off though; best that it’s quiet. But as I walked outside, I got a face full of sunshine and heard birds chirping; a sound that is potent as the cup of coffee I now have sitting beside me. Birdsong wakes me up, puts that Buddy prance in my step, and cheers me.

There was still snow on the ground from the slammering of ice Virginia got last week, but sunshine and birds. Spring is just around the corner.