A Preview OF Spring?!

Author: siggy

It was sixty-two degrees this afternoon four weeks into winter after having extremely frigid temperatures.  I quickly clipped three plants in the garden knowing the freezing temperatures were about to return and stay for awhile.  The “spring” weather was a fluke.  Anyway, I will enjoy it while it is here and be ready to bundle tightly up again.

For a short time all the trees were covered with snow.  It was April ninth and we had a “dusting” of snow–an inch or two.  It was not unheard of:  a snow “storm” this late in spring but it definitely was unusual.  The trees did not stay white too long.  I am waiting for the warmer weather to return.  And it will.  The forecast for my birthday less than a week away called for sixty degree weather and clear skies.

In a mere four days spring arrives.  I usually start a countdown to spring earlier but this weather was unusually warmer.  The primrose and crocuses have bloomed.  The daffodils are next.  Pretty soon we will start planting pansies and other flowers.

Spring is coming, Spring is coming !!! I am waiting for today and tomorrow to end. Then we get five days of Spring-like weather. My crocuses have eleven buds, and the daffodils are getting higher and higher. I know the cold weather this year was short, but I still remember those ice cold days we had. Spring is less than two weeks away, and I can’t wait for it to come.

A Harbinger Of Spring

Author: siggy

Some daffodils were poking their heads under the tree. This was a harbinger of spring. I checked the bed of primrose–no flowers yet.

Winter Is A Week In

Author: siggy

Winter is a week in. Still no extended freezes. An abnormally warm Fall. That means Spring might come sooner unless we get cold in the early Spring. The countdown has begun (to Spring). I’d hibernate but I don’t have that option.

‘Home is where they have to take you in.’ I am not sure if I got this quote verbatim, attributed to the famous poet Robert Frost. I thought about it for awhile. It is from our family we learn grace. We mess up badly and it is, often, our family that forgives us when we return home. No matter how badly I messed up I can return home and start afresh. Grace is a gift. There is no other way to put it. I don’t deserve it. Every person is flawed and makes mistakes. And we return home. No matter what we did.

My wife spotted the plant from the bathroom window. I had to go outside to inspect it more closely. She brought it to my attention. The plant lay below the window and had delicate purple bells almost like another flower we had in another part of the yard except the other one was white and these purple flowers shaped in a bell were longer although about the same width. Another surprise that day. Life is full of little surprises and all you have to do is pay attention. How that flower got there I will never know. Serendipity!

Life, sometimes, is composed of small surprises. I found a frozen bagel in the freezer I forgot I had and was glad to defrost it and eat it toasted dabbed with some butter. It was a real treat. A little surprise yesterday. Let us see what the next one will be.

Only By Grace…

Author: siggy

Only by grace both of us are passionate about listening to music. I share the best music I know and come across with her. And that is a gift being able to do that. In the beginning I opened a whole lot of worlds to her: British music and other kinds. I never forget the emotional impact of any piece of music. And I share that music with her easily. And that is only by grace.

In the beginning of our marriage every morning I would play this Nicole Nordeman CD. She asked me to play the music today and memories came flooding back. Everything was new between us then. I like to say we are an old married couple but we are not–twelve years I think. Every day is still another discovery. I know she is a gift and only here by serendipity. The music reminded me of that fact.

Tilla is so unpredictable. Two nights ago he would not come into my bedroom after I called his name repeatedly and not until my wife came in to bed. Yesterday I went to bed and my dog immediately followed me to my bedroom and fell asleep at the foot of my bed. I did not say one word to him or call his name once. My favorite dog is so unpredictable. I never know what he is going to do next.