It's Monday and the damn grass needs to be cut. The weather-nerds are saying there's a 50% chance of rain. Light day at the office... might as well dedicate some time in the morning and get it done before the rains come.
It's somewhat mindless work, up and back... up and back... up and back. It's humid... hey, it's North Carolina... and before long I'm drenched. At one circuit turn I see the garage of the house next door open and the neighbor-lady pulls out to go somewhere. I don't know her at all, other than the across-the-fence "hey" every now and then. She's incredibly busy... seemingly never home... always on the go. A cursory wave as she drives away and I continue my chore.
Another couple of circuits and I notice her garage door is up again. She's pulling back in. Another circuit, then the door's closed. Hmm... maybe she forgot something or dropped the daughter off and came back.
The rain starts to patter. It feels good against my skin, but the job needs to get finished... I don't know when I'll get back to it. The leaf-blower does a suitable job of blowing the clippings down the drive. I go inside and head straight upstairs for the shower.
I love a hot shower. But when my body heat is already high, the shower-water feels best when it's cool. I step in and revel in the clear, clean water washing the hot, sticky sweat from my skin. Head and hair get drenched and I can almost feel the steam coming off my dome like those football players in the NFL Films. A quick squirt of shampoo and I clench my eyes while I lather up my head.
Then I hear the distinctive "squoop-thock!" that the shower door makes when it opens, followed by the similar "squoop-thud-d-d!" sound as it closes. My mind searches for an answer... maybe one of the dogs is standing against the glass. My arms are over my head, my back is to the shower opening, rinsing the soap from my hair.