Spring in the South: Time to air your cow out.

 What???  Is that a ......cow?

Spring has definitely arrived!

Ahhh ...the solstice

It is a gorgeous day here in the South....and 70 degrees.

Spring feels like it must be just around the corner.

I know winter will come back...cause it's not through with us...but today...when the days start getting longer...it's easy to believe the earth's rebirth is near.

There have been some winter solstice's when you really have to work hard to believe in hope and spring....but not this one.

Wouldn't it be nice if it was just that easy this year?

planted and potted

It was so simple and yet such a joyous thing to do.

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I planted a tree in a pot and placed it near my front door.

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I planted it as the day was ending, the light fading into pink, the damp from the lawn beginning to rise.....the yellow of the porch light taking over.

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I didn't plant anything last year....when my parents were ill and dying.

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So it felt magical....and sensual....the mulchy smell, the softness of potting soil, the pricks from the holly leaves.

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Life finally returns to our house.

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Strange spring week........

Spring exploded in my neighborhood this week.

The dogwoods, azaleas and tulip trees seemed to bud and open within hours all around us. The birds are crazy........big storms have rolled through....and it vacillates from chilly to muggy sometimes within the same day.

All this new green...and colors.....and yet.....it doesn't match our lives inside our house. Early this week my mother-in-law died after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease. She lives in Idaho and her long distance death was not unexpected.

Because of timing...distance...and other complications only my hub went back to his home town. He's scheduled to return late tonight....but yet another thunderstorm is raging ...and I wonder if he will get stranded again.

On the way out to the funeral..he missed his connecting flight because of a weather delay....and got marooned in Minneapolis. Northwest Airlines.... through it's supervisors....basically said tough break....and offered no assistance. He was very upset...and called me at 2am... I was able to imperfectly patch him through a series of flights that got him close to his home town so he could join his family for part of the ceremony. I never went back to sleep...I tossed and turned anxious and worried that all the flights would be on time....and he would get there safely.

Home alone with the boys...I've been very withdrawn and quiet.....death makes you re-evaluate your life....and I thought of friends I'd lost touch with.... grieved for people who were no longer in my life....and thought of my own parents....who are struggling with their health.....spring outside.....so lovely and beautiful....feels like a strange pressure .....a troublesome counterpoint to what's going on inside me.

This evening when I returned home from an outing....I found our dog....our douffy lovable family pet.....deteriorating. He has not been well.....and I'm afraid...he won't make it to the vet by morning.....I've just held him....not much I can do.....

oh #$%^&^%R1!!! tornado sirens....what a week.

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