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sharperFocus
by Linda Manhardt, Major –
I awoke at 5:30 this morning, to the sound of a cadet playing the three notes he knows over and over on the trombone. While, if given a good night’s rest, I might have found humor in this, such was not the case this morning.
I got up and fed the kitten. I had no choice. As soon as I stirred, little “Latte” began his incessant screaming for food. When I found him a few weeks ago, his bones sharply protruded, his eyes were glued shut due to a terrible infection, and he coughed and wheezed constantly. Now, after three weeks, his eyes are wide open, he has a fat belly and although he still has a cough once in a while, he is basically healthy. It is surprising what a little food, shelter and love will do! There is no vet available, and I truly am amazed that he is recovering.
Back to my morning…
I puttered around awhile, and a little before 7:00 a.m., two workmen arrived. They walked in without knocking! I barely made it into my bedroom…
My side patio is being enclosed. The quarters here are tiny, and by enclosing the patio, my living space will more than double! They have been working here over a month and were supposed to finish last week, but I still don’t even have windows! Windows, I’ve discovered, are very important.
So living in my house is a little like camping. I am subject to the unrelenting heat and humidity, along with the flies and mosquitoes and other outside stuff invading my space. My floors are constantly muddy and a layer of dust coats everything.
But life must go on, and it was time to take my shower. When I opened the bathroom door, a swarm of mosquitoes greeted me. They must have bred in there overnight. I slapped at them all the while attempting to quickly shower and get out. I emerged covered with mosquito bites, just in time to have a cadet enter my home without knocking. Luckily, I was dressed.
While preparing a cup of instant coffee, I tried in vain to keep the flies off my breakfast. At the college, the officers can pay to eat the college food. I do, and the cadets bring it to me three times a day. Nice deal, except for the fact that they eat fish a lot here for breakfast. On those days, I usually get hot dogs and rice.
Right now, those flies were covering my hot dogs and rice. I began to feel frazzled and annoyed.
As I looked down, I saw that a puppy had chewed up a tube of expensive medicine. The workmen had left the doors open and every dog on the compound (there are six of them) had come in.
I decided to eat breakfast in my bedroom, where there were fewer flies. Carefully balancing the tray, I managed to get the door open. The dogs squeezed past me onto my bed, which was now covered with mud from last night’s rain.
I realized how crazy this was, and decided to write this article. So here I sit on the clean side of the bed. I have eaten my hot dogs and rice, and tried not to think about the flies. The dogs that belong here are sleeping and the rest are back outside. I have sprayed the bathroom and shut the door. And although the kitten keeps crawling over the keyboard and I am having great difficulty trying not to scratch mosquito bites, I can’t help but chuckle…
Just yesterday, I began to pray for patience!
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