Spring Thoughts of Grandma Maud

Today was a beautiful early spring day,
sunny,
approaching fifty degrees.
I thought of my grandma, Maud Rensel.
She was a superb gardener;
her table was usually topped
with an artistic display of flowers.

During the early spring,
if budding forsythia branches are placed in water
and put in a warm place,
they'll bloom early and put on a lovely yellow display.
As I went to one of our budding forsythia bushes
and clipped a number of wands,
I thought of Maud.
When I took her graceful lead crystal vase
directly from the hot dishwasher,
I thought of Maud
...and as filled the vase with water
and heard a telltale "ping" as it cracked,
a word came to mind,
and, again, I thought of Maud.

March Waiting

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Mike, I hope you're flattered....
Some March thoughts:

1. March is the second advent--
waiting for God to display his new creation once again.
So far, we've seen robins, geese, a moseying skunk,
and a roadkill bunny.
Now we're watching for snowdrops in bloom,
coltsfoot,
and porcupines, raccoons, and possum.

2. Denny and his class tuned in daily for Iditarod updates,
and mushed fantasy dog teams over playground snowbanks.
The weather channel guy says diphtheria;
the book I read gave the pronunciation as diphtheria.
Are both correct?

3. Cleaning bookshelves is never as easy as it seems.
There's always a pile
that doesn't fit with the new organizational scheme,
maps that siphon away time,
xeroxed pages of jokes and stories.
Throw away?
I toss most of them back on the shelf.

4. Some weeks are jammed.
Holy week also contained St Patrick's Day
(dress as a leprechaun and throw green and gold glitter on kids' heads),
the official first day of spring
(dress as Mother Nature and bonk kids with flowers while explaining the equinox),
and two days of parent-teacher conferences,
all in four days.

5. Why, all of a sudden,
am I getting weird blog comments from people I don't know?
I ticked a few boxes to try to stop them,
and now I'm unsure whether any comments can get through.
Pictures have also been more of a pain than usual.
It's frustrating to be only slightly computer literate.
And why does this computer keep barking at me?

6. I've sucked thousands of ladybugs from windows in the last few weeks.
I do prefer them to the gypsy moths they were imported to fight, but
where have they been hiding?
What have they been eating?
What percentage of them have escaped from the vacuum cleaner?
If I refuse to suck any more of them,
will there be any biological repercussions?

7. Den made maple syrup at one of the county historical sites.
It's been a good year for sap.

8. I have been a Survivor fan for the last few seasons,
but I'm disgusted at the people who are volunteering/pleading to leave.
I think Den would be a terrific contestant for Survivor,
but he's not interested.

9. Den took the snowblower off the John Deere on Friday,
as the forecast was for an inch or two.
We woke on Saturday to a foot of new snow.
We now can confirm that it does take longer to shovel by hand.

10. Easter memories include
travelling to Houghton
without keeping a close eye on the backseat--
we had to make an abrupt stop in Bradford
for Luke to unload a chocolate bunny,
the eggs no one finds til months later,
pickled eggs,
and the resurrection story in swahili.
I am grateful to be reminded of Jesus's resurrection victory
and his free gift of grace.
He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Spring is Here. Right.

I know spring officially begins at the spring equinox.

But, for a number of years now,

we have celebrated March 1st as the first day of spring.

There are a number of reasons for this:

• If summer vacation is traditionally June, July, and August, then it follows that spring is March, April, and May.
• The first of the month is a more concise system for us OCD types.
• I have difficulty remembering whether the equinox is March 20th, 21st, or 22nd.
• The week containing March 1st is often the week that robins and bluebirds return, shivering.
• October is literally the eighth month, implying that the year starts in March.

If the robins come back this week, they're crazy;

March 2008 entered as a major snowstorm.

Mother Nature is still wearing 10 inch boots.

S.

PS. The day after I posted this, Den heard a robin in Clearfield, and tonight one flew over the house while Den was in the hot tub. Crazy.