Rites of Spring

Walked to the local store today. Oh, my aching right hip and left knee. I wasnt kidding when I told Sis that working on the hospital/nursing home floor 12 hours a day would lead to a knee or hip replacement quickly. Anyway we saw springtime things. Hopcopters. Actually maple seeds. You know...if you throw them in the air they will twirl down like a helicoptor blade. I used to like to do that as a kid. Now he knows too. We saw half a robin's egg-which was a robin's egg blue. He didn't pick it up and get grossed out with the eggy stuff dried on it like I used to. No-he was content to just see it. He stopped me to look up in a tree. He told me that once there was a big bird up in it. Just checking it out to see what was hanging up there today I guess. We bought stamps and ham and milk duds. Other things-but those are the highlights. We went to the 'pizza place' so he could put his quarters in the baseball gum/rubber ball baseball game machine. It was all good. Last night I went to Preston's to return some money. Clark was delightful. He got a new tricycle and made it go. He loves nursery rhymes and makes dioramas of them with available resources. His Mom draws them on his legs-I approve. How fortunate to have such a great family.
I am starting to believe that I can and will make my living with my Etsy store. Seeing a glimpse of vision. I believe.

Beautiful Spring

My Mom was telling me that people were worried that we would go directly from winter to summer. I feel like saying 'open your eyes peeps-it's here!' Right now-this minute. NOW. It may not last a long time. But if it is now, right this minute-then it lasts forever. All we have is now. Kim and Dan bought flowers and plants and worked in the yard 3 days straight. Cindy and Steve have planted their spring garden, dredged out their pond and a 100 things besides. Dogwoods are purple, magnolia blooms have blossomed, Butch has mowed Mom's yard. Katie is wearing shorts. It's spring. April and May fly by just like October and November. Temperate and beautiful.

I am resisting going back to work as a nurse. This week I went to the hospital with my Mother for her cataract surgery. Watching the nurses work. So many opportunities for oops. Oops are bad. Making a mistake with a patient's health is never trivial. Could be deadly. I feel scared to go back.

I was gone for 2 full days at Mom's so this morning I got up at 7am-excited to work on my shop Gamut. I had a pretty quiet couple of weeks-the first 2 weeks of April. I also had been stuck at 77 hearts for awhile and it has popped up to 92. This last few days have been lively-I sold 7ish things-or more. Fun. It paid off most of my March Etsy bill and I bought some coral, tangerine, salmon, raspberry czech beads-wonderful hot spicy colors for summer. I am craving them. I saw a picture of these paint colors in a magazine in the waiting room and I ripped it out.

So this morning I made and placed 4 new necklaces. Popping in some pictures of what I have made recently.

Spring Colds

Woke up with a scratchy throat, chest congestion, layers and layers of crud. Drank hot water out of the bathroom tap to help the drainage process. Drank some coffee and ate some pretzels. Checked my Etsy shop and then fell back into a deep dream-filled sleep. Fatigued. Katie had 'bad' allergies last week. So-have to wonder if this is allergy symptoms or a viral cold. I think the later. Usually my allergies are active in the winter-I am a Winter allergy sufferer. I should make a button. I watched 'Julie & Julia' last night. Of course I loved it. But I agreed with Julia-I would not want my personal sex life as content on a blog. I also thought to myself 'I am so glad I started a blog before I saw this.' I blog. I am a blogger. I am a writer. My school culture fostered writers. Didn't all of us have to write papers and essays constantly? Reading and writing-don't they go hand and hand? Is there a reader who is not also a writer and vice versa? I have always kept a journal-the last 7-10 years they are more like a amalgam of 'blog-scrapbook-journal' I am not immune to the cultural trends. One big universal organism. But I do know that 15 years as a nurse changed the way I write. To the point. Just the facts mam. Short and sweet. No long run on and on flowery sentences leading you down the path to some artistic expression of the heart and soul... Nope. The wound is x by x with blah blah blah. This is by neccessity a new chapter in my life. I hope HOPE I like it. Hope is my new discovery.

Spring

I just checked the date of the Vernal equinox this year and it is earlier-March 20th. Just a couple of days! It was a perfect winter. Which means it was cold, it was long and it was snowy. Just the right kind of winter to help you be ready and truly enjoy the warmth and beauty of Spring. Not that the cold and wet is over mind you. My husband was telling me that we have a chance of snow on Saturday. And 30ish degree temps for a few days. Fine! I throw down the glove at winter. Just like a bully to get the last word, show us who is boss. I watched the Weather channel long enough to see that by Monday it will be in the high 40's again. Which means all the college students will be wearing shorts and pretending they are not cold. Good for them. This morning I was remembering The Uffizi Gallery in Florence. 2 paintings really stick out in my mind. One was a circular Madonna by DaVinci and the other was Primavera by Botticelli. It was so beautiful to me. Shame on me for not remembering more.
Spring is the fastest season. Once you have passed by spring break-April and May whip by incredibly fast. I will notice Spring, enjoy Spring more this year. Get it into my bones. Go to the early Farmer's Markets, take walks, buy flowers-eat new peas and potatoes. Dream in pastels. Somehow get it to slow down and take it's time. Because -talk about bullies. Summer is coming.