What it Means to be Looked After

The house has been busy in the best way.

Not hurried. Not strained. Just awake to what needs doing.

Today, the Christmas decorations began to come down. Not all at once. Not with any urgency. Each piece was wrapped and set away with care, as though it mattered that it had been part of something joyful. Being looked after means nothing is rushed out of sight just because its season has passed.

I moved through the house steadily, giving myself room between tasks. Rest belongs here, folded into the work rather than postponed. Care does not demand exhaustion. It allows breath. The house understands this rhythm, and I follow its lead.

As the weekend opens, I have been tending to the places you are unlikely to notice outright. Cupboards reorganized. Shelves cleared and reset. Corners made ready for what the next week will bring. Being looked after often means the unseen has already been handled so you do not have to think about it.

There is also a piano waiting.

The baby grand is coming up to the main floor, where it can be part of daily life again. Somewhere along the way, playing was set aside, as it so often is. Life asks us to be practical. Music waits patiently. I am ready now to welcome it back.

Playing the piano feels like meditation to me. The mind quiets. The hands know where to go. Time loosens its grip. Being looked after sometimes means being reminded of what restores you and being given the space to return to it without explanation.

With the decorations settling into their hibernation and the piano nearly in place, the house is already looking ahead. Spring is being considered. Plans for the remodeled kitchen are forming. The herb garden waits with the confidence only a garden has.

This is what it means to be looked after here.

It means the work of care begins before you ask for it. It means rest is woven into the rhythm of the days. It means the house prepares itself so that you can step into the weekend without carrying everything with you.

The rooms are ready. The pace has shifted. The next days are opening.

Mika

P.S.
As I finished for the day, I noticed a note resting on the piano bench. The handwriting was unmistakably hers.

“There is wisdom in setting things down before they ask to be dropped.”

Lady Staywell tends to make herself known to those who choose to stay.