I love reading everyone's blogs. Makes me feel like I just had a cup of coffee and a chat with each of you. But when I try to write mine, the coffee gets cold.

What pushes me into finally making an entry is the joy I get from yours, that and the fact that I promised my sister. Hi Sand'! You're still making me braver than I am.

At the moment I'm on vacation. What a glorious gift that is. My first day off I took three naps! I was worn out. I had had a headache for three days and had just finished two solid days of parent conferences. (I'm a teacher.) The first day we stay until 8pm for our parents and then start at 7:30am the next day. We didn't break for meals, we were so busy. Just took five minutes to grab a snack and kept at it.

The second day I drove to Kent for a baby shower. That was fun. Lots of really nice women, terrific food, great gifts and laughter. Caught up with family and got to hug the cute babies who arrived last fall. Melissa's baby will have cousins his age to play with.

The great aunties have a tradition now. We each sew a row on a baby quilt. This one was filled with lively colors and a zoo full of animals. Grandma Annette connected our rows and did the quilting and binding. It looked really good Annette. Thanks.

And now I'm already on day 4. Someone slow down the clock!!! I'm off to the pool to swim laps and then a new project awaits me. More on that later.

Love you all. Me(g)

Rain

It's raining. That can mean so many things...

The entire sky is covered at the moment. To the east a sheet of grey. To the west the clouds are more delineated. And here in the middle the trees are swaying; rain is sliding drop by drop along the windows. This time the rain is cozy. While the trees bend and twirl and the rain slips quietly down, my kitty and I are comfortably tucked away. Blankets and books and tea.

When we look out there is an invitation to reflect. Life must be good if time allows for reflection, if there is a break from work, if the mind can travel through memory, and if there is a calm in which one can reside while one thinks.

It's a great day.

Spring is Coming

I don't know about you, but I get really tired of winter. Snow is great. Short days are OK. Rain is tolerable. But endless grey is hard to take. I play mind games each year. It's not really winter until late December. January isn't really winter; if you watch, Pussy Willow will start to form buds. February isn't winter the Forsythia bloom and the wild currant won't be far behind. March and April bring official Spring and the local tulip festival. Winter? What winter?

It almost works. If I can make it to February, I know I'll survive.

This year was grey, but Spring has been shaping up for weeks. Buds are forming everywhere. Tulips and daffodils are up and out of the ground. I was in California a couple of weeks ago and everything was in bloom there. A great preview of the color to come. The final proof of life returning was the waking of the frogs. We live by a pond and each year the frogs awaken in spring. Its a full tympany of sound. A percussion section that sings the sound of the earth. Last night the first frog woke and began to call the others. Within a week there will be thousands calling out. This is the music of our vernal equinox.