Just Another Day

It’s not yet twilight and Uncle Bubba is in his old Ford pickup headed to work. As he drives towards town the full moon is still high in the western sky and some dirty pink clouds are faintly waking in the east. Bubbie’s thinks about how seldom good things come at the early morning hours of a day but don’t it all change in an hour; for the birth of a new daybreak is starting to glow as he turns his wheel to the right and starts the long drive over the usual two-lane highway. The sky glows golden dressed in pink and corral underneath gray clouds and a pale blue sky.

At the next red light Uncle Bubba sits among the other vehicles, waiting. He looks in his mirror at the drivers behind him. Ladies are checking their look in the visor mirrors while others sit with blank stares. They are all someone’s unsung hero; tired, overworked, underpaid, under appreciated. They have children, spouses, parents all depending on their loyalty, their diligence to face another day at work. No one is going to shoot a documentary about their life. No one is going to give them a prestigious award for honor, or a beautiful gold medal for courage. No, they are doing what they must to have what they have.

The light finally turns green and Bubbie drives off with a soft song playing on the radio. A smile crosses his lips at a fond thought of Sweet Pea. He rubs a tired eye and sips hot black coffee from a travel mug and wonders what the day will bring. In Bubbie’s view, it’s a shame that we don’t know more about our neighbors and what small thing we might do to make their mundane days just a little bit better.