This morning, the birds were quieter. A couple of crows argued overhead and a lone goose paddled the swim of shame, calling out to his buddies who were still sleeping it off.

In the distance, a neighbor was hammering and I thought it was odd to be hammering something at 6:30 in the morning. My mind went down a path where I suspected they were nailing a tomb shut before putting it into the dirt beneath the floor of their basement, covering the hole back up with concrete once the deed was done.

Then I realized it was one of two woodpeckers. The first sounded like a woodpecker – peck, peck, peck – soft and dainty-like, and the other one, well, sounded like the psychopathic basement killer I described above.

Then I thought about my dad.

“Did you know chickens are the dirtiest of all the animals?”

“Really? Why?”

“Because they eat with their peckers.”

Badum bum.

Memories. A smile. Now coffee.

Good morning.