My Beloved Muskrat Is Abandoning Me For a Boy!!!!
From the Muskrat's mouth:
I, myself, just got back from a mini vacation. My guy, Jef, and I went to New Mexico, and just in time! We couldn’t have planned it better. The hurricane called for mandatory evacuation on my little beach the day after we left. Though the aftermath of it all proved to be a war zone all is well with my little apartment and my family.
While chaos was going on at home, I found myself in the land of serenity. I roamed through the dry desert, climbed several mountains, and felt as if I had reached the peace of the earth. New Mexico is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Though it was right under my nose at all times, I never thought such splendor could reside in my own country.
The smell of the desert is like new air that has never inhabited the lungs of human kind before. It is so fresh and clean to breath! My first encounter with the desert will forever be embedded in my mind. Upon the new morn Jef and I drove through a twisted road towards the peak of a great mountain that overlooked Santa Fe and, what seemed, the entirety of that vast wasteland of beauty.
Jef was all smiles that morning as we sat on that peak talking for hours about life and all that she encompasses. Finally, the conversation started to cease into a comfortable silence and then he asks me, ever so casually, “So, do you think we are ready for the next step.” “Sure,” I threw out with a flip of my carefree hand and a quirky side-smile. How was I to know that the next instance he would pull out the sparkliest ring that ever did reside!
I was breathless! Never did I have the plans of marriage in mind. I’ve always just been bumping around, but here before me was offered a soft place to land. Words escaped me….
The only thing I could think to say was, “Can I get back to you on that one?” He had informed me, with a smile, that he was already prepared for that answer and would wait for my reply. We continued our vacation. The thought of marriage upon my doorstep lingered on the back footsteps of my every thought with a ring from the doorbell every now and again from a humbled voice asking, “What do you think of that proposal now?” The man was brilliant in his patience. I have to give him that!
Two days rolled by as we made our way up to the Sandia Mountains. After a few hours of hiking we roamed around until we came to a clearing that overlooked the setting of the sun. My eyes filled with pink. Sandia means ‘watermelon.’ They called these mountains the ‘Watermelon Mountains’ because when the sun sets and reflects upon their brazen backs the mountains glow pink. Jef, being the ‘Mr. List-it’ that he is, suggested that I try and think of the good and bad of it all and write it down to help me along in my conquest while he went off to take pictures in his Ansel Adams way.
But, the thing is I had been trying to figure out the bad the whole day. True, I never saw myself as married, and true there are things about the man that I know will drive me insane, however I couldn’t count that as bad. I’ve always said that I wanted to live my life to the fullest, and though I’ve never really considered this route before I could not exclude it, fore what a wonderful adventure it all would be.
And so, as he came out of the murky forest I asked him to come sit beside me. I took the ring off and gave it back. He was not pleased and for a moment refused to take it. I finally forced it in his hands and asked him to ask again. He got down on one knee and said the words as if he had said them for the first time.
The windy air breezed between my lips as the desert stirred about in her silence. Moments lingered for hours there. Finally, I exerted the word ‘Yes’ and the next moment breathed in that peace that only the desert could provide. New Mexico is truly the land of enchantment!
I love you, Muskrat. You are gonna have a blessed life with Jef. :) Please name your first born Julia. Regardless if the baby is male or female.
