Naps are nice but there are other things nicer

I sure enjoy Sunday afternoons when I am napping and suddenly hear the sound of the electric ice cream freezer start churning. I can wake up easy and smiling, comb my thinning hair and get to the table without any trouble.

Most Sunday afternoons my close relative will have a house full of her kids and Grands. Yes, they are mine too, but I'd not always invite them when I need to have a day of rest. It is difficult to rest with all that palaver going on and doors opening and closing constantly. I did not remember that teenagers could fuss or laugh so loudly until the Grands hit the mark.

But I digress. The joy of homemade ice cream is so delightful that I can stand almost anything! I can stand it better if there is a slab of pie under the first bowl full.

My female offspring brought warm cookies to the house this week to go with the cream. We ate and sat around the yard enjoying the afternoon and the shade. Lots of talk about the new chain link fence, and I did not join that conversation.

My eyes glaze over once in awhile as I think about the many blessings we enjoy here on this rock pile. Sure, we owe some to the banker, drive a truck until it falls apart and look like rag peddlers as we dress for work. My close relative has some old shoes that have all the tread worn off the soles and a hole in both sides; she still wears them to get the eggs from the neighbor and is not embarrassed.

I sat in a comfortable chair surrounded by family, my belly full of ice cream and pie and cookies, and soaked it up. The ache in my left knee might have been there, but at the moment I could not feel any pain at all. The goodness of life is not always evident, maybe even palatable, but when it is, a feller should get all he can of it.

I could see the heifers in the pasture east of the house as I looked around, and the grass was green and heavy.

This is the month of dust and dread in a normal year. We dread the hot days, the ponds getting low, the grass drying up; and as it does, the cows give less milk so calves also get a little dry. Not so this year. I sat there and gazed, a new bowl of ice cream in hand, delivered by a grinning Grand. All I could dread was the day coming to an end.

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, naps are nice but there are other things nicer. I am going to make an effort to rest more on Saturday evening so I can enjoy this family blessing even more! If you are blessed with the same, and I hope you are, be thankful!

Bill is the pen name of the Gravette author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.