Mess. Preparation. Hosting. Dreaming. Cleaning Up.

EXERCISE 126: PARDON THE MESS

a little shine

Describe a room in detail that is not yet fit for someone who is about to visit.

We are preparing for Friendsgiving. Our living room is a mess. Laundry strewn on the coach waiting to be put away. Kitty litter box waiting to be cleaned. Table waiting for flowers. Bag of potatoes sits on the counter waiting to be mashed. Rolls waiting to become pork sliders. Puddles of brine spilled in the process of moving the turkey from the bag to the fridge waiting to be roasted. The concrete floor with cat puke stains waiting to be scrubbed. Plants waiting to be pruned and watered. Three flights of wooden stairs waiting to be cleaned and polished. Carpets waiting to be vacuumed. Toilets waiting to be cleaned. Dessert table waiting to be set up. Folding chairs waiting to be placed around the room for guests. Everything waiting to be dusted. 

EXERCISE 127: GET READY

posey of flowers

Describe yourself arranging a room to prepare for someone’s visit.

When people visit our three story loft and stay the night, we prepare our bottom floor — which serves as our office. We organize our desks. (Our offices sit next to where guests sleep on our pull out coach with a memory foam mattress that we bought when we moved two years ago. (We slept like babies on it when our air conditioning died last summer.) Once the bed is pulled out and put together, which requires arranging about a thousand pillows, we clean up the bathroom. The bathroom on the bottom floor has a double sink, wonderful water pressure, a fancy tile shower and narrow tub. We clean the bathroom top to bottom — including bath mats and wash clothes and towels. Making sure the bathroom is well stocked — from toothpaste to soap to tooth brushes to shower gel— is important, too. Making sure our guest knows how to use the television, and moving my yoga mat upstairs, are the final guest preparations. 

EXERCISE 128: PLAY HOST

a note of welcome

Write a note of welcome, which lists the things you could not provide your guest and lists the things you were able to provide instead.

Welcome. Your visit is a blessing. Our 100 year-old factory loft — its high beams and concrete floors, its brick walls and rooftop deck overlooking the Atlanta skyline, its memory foam pull-out bed and multiple bathrooms — embraces you fully./ We cannot provide walled bedrooms. We cannot provide window treatments for the upstairs doors. We cannot provide a table that seats more than 6. We cannot provide a bathtub large enough to shave your legs without contortion. We cannot provide separation from our offices on the bottom floor. We cannot provide a kitchen large enough for two to cook in. We cannot provide the kind of privacy you might require on an average everyday. If you come in winter, be prepared for bare trees and Panthers hockey. If you come in spring, be prepared for a Kentucky Derby party and the scent of magnolia. If you come in summer, be prepared for porch music festivals and the shade of fantastic trees. If you come in fall, be prepared for college football and brilliant leaves falling celebrating deciduous beauty. Our door is always open.

EXERCISE 129: INSTRUCTIONS FOR DREAMING

best ways to fall

Someone is going to be using your room while you are away. Write directions on the best ways to fall asleep in your bed.

To fall asleep in my bed, you must love cats. You must be able to curl your legs and have one cat sleep in the crook behind your knee and the other sleep by your side. You must be still to accommodate the cats. You must remember to carry up water when you come upstairs to the bedroom floor. You must desire high thread count sheets, a blanket, and a comforter. You must prefer bamboo pillows that take particular shape and form. You must figure out a way to listen to the spa channel on your favorite sound system. You must get back to sleep after cats try to wake you up and make a play for attention. You must be able to wake with the sun because we have no window treatments.

EXERCISE 130: NOW THAT YOU’RE GONE

tidying up

Describe the process of tidying up or rearranging a bedroom/guest room/living room after a loved one has stayed with you and then left.

---

I am often sad when people leave our home. The joy of anticipation. The warmth of connection. The energy of remembering. The momentum of making new memories. Meals shared. Places visited. Pictures taken and put in perfect position in collages gently placed on bare walls. 1000 puzzle pieces fit together in precision and grace. Glass and mirror shards turning in a kaleidoscopic dance. The familiar refrain, “We must do this again.” Is it possible to feel full and empty, up and down, backward and forward, upside down and right side up? 

Thank you for reading MONDAYS ARE FREE. These are my explorations of poetry and language and joy. Subscribe to the Wide-Awakeness Project to share this journey.

---

MONDAYS ARE FREE 001 — 003

MONDAYS ARE FREE 004 — 006

MONDAYS ARE FREE 007— 010

MONDAYS ARE FREE 011 — 015

MONDAYS ARE FREE 016 — 020

MONDAYS ARE FREE 021 — 025

MONDAYS ARE FREE 026 — 030

MONDAYS ARE FREE 031 — 035

MONDAYS ARE FREE 036 — 040

MONDAYS ARE FREE 041 — 045

MONDAYS ARE FREE 046 — 050

MONDAYS ARE FREE 051 — 055

MONDAYS ARE FREE 056 — 060

MONDAYS ARE FREE 061 — 065

MONDAYS ARE FREE 066 — 070

MONDAYS ARE FREE 071 — 075

MONDAYS ARE FREE 076 — 080

MONDAYS ARE FREE 081 — 085

MONDAYS ARE FREE 086 — 090

MONDAYS ARE FREE 091 — 095

MONDAYS ARE FREE 096 — 100

MONDAYS ARE FREE 101 — 105

MONDAYS ARE FREE 106 — 110

MONDAYS ARE FREE 111 — 115