Look at the gorgeous spring sunshine pouring into our living room this afternoon! What a treat, after cloudy, rainy, snow-showery-days-on-end. The maple sap is running in our neighborhood and pickups are trundling back and forth on the road, between taps and sugarhouses. Melting snow is dripping from the roof and rivulets are running in the driveway. The dirt road is getting soft and squishy, as “Mud Season” is upon us. We try to do errands down in town early in the morning, while the roads are still frozen from overnight dips in the temperature. The snow along the byways is dirty and crusty, but a fresh layer of 9” of snow is due overnight tomorrow. A flock of redwing blackbirds serenaded us yesterday as they gathered at our feeders. What a lovely sight! Batman is planting salad greens down in the hoop house and pea sprouts on the windowsill. The days lengthen and folks in town greet one another with a smile as they pass one another. We are all thawing. The season is shifting.
I’ve just finished reading A Still Life, by Josie George, recommended by artist Hannah Nunn. It was sometimes a difficult read, because George has not had an easy life. But George’s writing is filled with insights, grace and beauty. I found myself just sitting with her words over and over again, digesting them, and then jotting quotes in a notebook. I recommend it to you.
I also read Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt recently (I think reader Gail N, suggested it to me.) It was such a fun read! If you have read The Soul of an Octopus and enjoyed it, you may find this a delightful companion piece.
I’m now halfway through Search by Michelle Huneven. A novel about the workings of a ministerial search committee, it has caused me to laugh out loud many times! Huneven has included recipes for dishes shared at the committee potluck meals. Such fun!
And dearest readers, thank you for your thoughtful and kind comments on my last post. Sometimes I struggle here with how transparent to be and also wanting a degree of privacy. We have a sweet little community here on the internet, so I will share just a bit with you. Along with everything else going on in my life, I am indeed navigating a medical diagnosis. Tests, results, consultations, waiting…it’s all a mishmash. But I have insurance, I have doctors I trust (who have been reassuring), I have a fairly strong and resilient body for my age. I have learned over the years that it’s not good for me to put energy into the things that I cannot control, but instead, do what I can with the things that I can control. So that’s what I’m doing. And, gosh, I’m reminded that each morning that we wake up to another day is a blessing, pure and simple.
Sending you love and light and hope, friends, from the thawing, messy and refulgent Green Mountains of Vermont. xo