It’s spring! Do you know how I know? Fuzzy green trees. Today I ripped my eyes away from my walking feet and saw trees covered in green fuzz – too small and too far away to be distinguishable as leaves. Just a hint of leaves. A chartreuse prelude to the green summer will bring. Tiny feathers evolving into shade in just a few weeks. A reminder that warm days are coming.
April started and the Afthead life ramped up to a new level: gardens to plant, soccer games to play, school and work chaos to wrangle, and why not throw in a construction project to top it all off? Things are busy, not passive aggressive whiny busy, but filled with things we love to do. Today as I rode my bike home from dropping my car off for an oil change I thought about all the things I’m grateful for right now:
For the computer glitch that allowed me to book an oil change appointment even when there were no slots available, and for the kind man who said he would fit me in.
For the ability to ride my bike home past Craig Hospital where two people were outside in their wheelchairs enjoying the beautiful weather.
For the stunning flowers this spring made more precious by the snow forecast this weekend.
For soccer season, the girls on our team, the parents of those girls, and my own daughter’s growth in skill and friendship and enjoyment of the game. Also, because she’s learning how to “suck it up” when things don’t go her way – a life lesson she desperately needs.
For unexpected bravery ignited by soccer friends which has led to my daughter desperately excited about going to sleep away camp this summer. My baby at eight wants to go to sleep away camp? How does that happen?
For warm cats in sunshine and remembering how much her brother loved sunbeams.
For having the means to do this to our basement just because we are tired of having no outlets and two sad overhead lights. It just feels decadent to get rid of the old dropped ceilings and flickering florescent lights and build a real grown up basement…just because we want to.
For a free cinnamon roll!
For amazing colleagues who leave mysterious tiny unicorns on everyone’s computer and can be counted on to creatively find a way to keep us going even after losing a huge chunk of funding.
For the patience to believe my writing is only in hibernation while the rest of the world is waking up and that it too will return after this season of fullness ends.
For friends, which is a whole series of posts coming. I am so grateful right now for friends.
Happy Thursday readers! I am so grateful for you too!
March. I can never remember if it’s in like a lion and out like a lamb, or the other way around. But I know for a fact that late mid March is a doozy!
Hopefully our glorious spring will return soon. It seems like only yesterday it was 70 degrees. Oh, it was only yesterday? At 5:00 pm? My how time flies. Hope you are warm wherever you are.
Here in Aftheadville we’ve had a few weekends of 70 degree weather and just enough moisture to convince our spring bulbs that it’s time to pop out of the ground and look pretty. Thank goodness for these random spring days in February, or I might not make it to May when spring finally decides to settle in and stay. Here’s hoping you are getting a break from winter wherever you are!
Oh, guess what made me happy this week? Spring!!! It’s here! I can smell it in the air. I can feel it between my toes. I can see it everywhere! Time to dust off the gardening tools and start digging and planting and growing.
Spring means buying flowers and plants.
Ranunculus. My favorite spring flower to pet. The dense petals are so soft! This guy will live above my sink in the kitchen and I will love it until I kill it. I can make lots of flowers thrive, but not this one.
Spring means big showy displays of color.
Forsythia! This bush lives right outside our front door and I watch for the yellow blossoms to appear each February. Now it is a cacophony of little yellow flowers singing spring, spring, spring!
Spring means tiny greenhouses protecting the summer bounty from spring frost.
Walls of water hide three tomato and two broccoli plants. Grow little veggies and be safe from the frost and cold.
Spring means tiny blossoms of joy.
Tiny Iris. My favorite flowers of spring. First come the crocuses peeking through the snow and mulch. Then the tiny showy iris bloom with their tiger striped petals.
Afthead 