Let's Talk

About what I don't know because it's that time of year where people are cranky and blog content is a bit thin, still I'm going to ramble on anyway. 

It's cold here in the Palmetto State, BUT! not as cold as the state we previously called home. I heard our little NJ town was mentioned on Good Morning America because they got a whopping 32 inches of snow yesterday. That is a lot of snow people. 

This picture popped up on my Facebook memories today, a photo snapped from my front porch six years ago. I guess piles of snow and groundhogs go together, and we had a lot of both in NJ. 

Hubs is so happy he's not dealing with it right now, but shhh...don't tell him...I kind of miss seeing the beauty of a great big snowfall. Just one though. We're not accustomed to those temps anymore so it's best enjoyed from a distance. I'm here shivering in 45 degree weather counting the days until we're back living life outdoors and on the water, hopefully soon. 

Did I mention here the bride and groom live in the snowy northeast? 

photo credit: the bride

Well they do. Many states away from the warm(ish) sunny southland and their people. Still America so there's that, but a ten hour car ride so not geographically close. I remind myself almost daily that it's good for newlyweds to establish themselves as a family unit separate and apart from their family of birth. And they're happy y'all. So so happy. 

My son-in-law's job means this is where they live right now, and so many things have fallen into place for this precious couple that you can't help but see God's hand in it all. The bride even landed an in person teaching job which she enjoys as much as one can in these weird times, but still...can't one of my girls live nearby? 

Maybe someday. 

This is why I declare technology my best friend. 

Wait, no it's not. I just remembered the cable company was in our house half a day yesterday to switch us over to the high speed internet now available in our community. Which is great except now none of the TVs are working right and I loathe having to deal with this sort of thing. Sorry for the run on sentence but ugh...

Also, hubs would say technically he is the one dealing with it, but ugh... 

In other less than pleasant news, our tax organizer appeared in my inbox today. 

Hello February. You're lucky you come with chocolate. 

And beauty. Because y'all there is beauty if you look for it even in the middle of a winter that feels grouchier than most. So let's throw some beauty into the mix.

You thought I was going to post a wedding picture didn't you?  

I would, but we're still waiting on our photographs. This one a guest snapped of the bride dancing with the groom's granddad is awfully sweet. 

And don't you worry...when we get the pictures back you'll know. Ha! 

When daughter2 started teaching from home back in March of 2020, she brought a half-dead plant to the house with her. A student had given her a 'bulb' which hadn't grown into much of anything save one lonely green stalk. Sadly the pot tipped over in her car enroute to our house and that lone green stalk ripped in half. 

She was going to chuck the whole thing but hubs intervened. He loves to shower half-dead plants with TLC and I want you to know he brought this plant back to life. I kept saying it looked like an amaryllis, and while it grew taller and taller every day for a year, it never sprouted any sort of bud or bloom. Hubs though, did not give up and this week-

Yes he attached a grow light to a pool cue. I told you hubs is serious about bringing life to sad situations. 

The world is kind of sad right now, isn't it? Yet here we are with two buds ready to pop, and another  following close behind smack dab in the middle of a cold gray winter. 

A gentle reminder that a little patience and some tender loving care can make all sorts of thing grow. 

Play It Again or Maybe Don't

Groundhog Day falls on Superbowl Sunday this year, and who can stand all the excitement? Ha!Actually I don't pay much attention to what the groundhog 'says' because when you live in the Northeast there is no such thing as a true early spring. Oh, we'll have a gorgeous spring-like day here and there, maybe even as early as March, but March is cruel and just when you think spring is here, BAM-snow. That's how mother nature rolls in our neck of the woods.

Hearing the radio DJ's talk about Groundhog Day this morning did get me thinking about the movie, the one with Bill Murray where he lives the same day over and over until he gets it right.  And in the spirit of Friday Fragments, and 5 on Friday, I thought it might be fun today to think about what days I'd like to live over.

My immediate thought was the two days my girls were born, and while those were two of the happiest days of my life, there's really no need to experience childbirth again, right? As I thought about it some more I realized the days I'd like to live over were ordinary days.  They were cozy slices of life as opposed to grand occasions, and they were filled with love and laughter and family.

I'd love to relive a Thanksgiving dinner with my dad at the head of the dining room table. I'd be about nine years old and he'd be carving the turkey in that elaborate way he liked to carve a turkey, and there would be a shrimp cocktail in a fancy glass on my china plate.

I'd be seated beside my brother and across the table from my sisters, and we'd all be dressed in church clothes, because Thanksgiving meant no play clothes at the table. My mom would be in her chair, closest to the kitchen because moms since time began are assigned that seat. She would light candles and have 1969 bouffant hair and a soft smile.

I'd love to relive the magical space between day and night, that after dinner early evening ritual we established with our golden haired toddlers. Where mom and dad would sit on the floor beside the tub, and listen to the sounds of sisterhood cementing itself into the fabric of our family.

We wrapped chubby legs and wet hair in hooded towels, and snuggled their squirmy selves in close to warm up. To breathe deeply the scent of baby shampoo-ed curls, as we maneuvered them into PJs with extravagant ruffles across the bum, and then we squeezed in tight for Stellaluna, There's a Moose in the Garden, and Goodnight Moon. To feel the weight of a sleeping three year old pressed against my chest as I carried her up the stairs. To kiss a soft sweet forehead, and feel the hope and glorious wonder of young motherhood.

I'd love to relive a day on our boat. A sunny day where we fly like the wind, then slow time and ease into our cove. Where we raft up with friends, and kids who are all arms and legs and laughter, leap into the water with purple noodles and carefree abandon.

Where even the blue heron stands captivated by the perfection of a Saturday afternoon. James Taylor wafts through a speaker, the sun sparkles like diamonds on a blue black river,  and God signs His masterpiece with the flourish of a pinky orange paintbrush.

I'd love to relive an afternoon in our English garden. Doors thrown open wide to the beauty of iris on the patio and poppies with their heads turned toward the sun.

The scent of lilac in the air, the Sunday Times, an ice cold glass of Pimms, teenage daughters whispering, dreaming in the wide expanse of grass. The other side of the pond. Redefining home. Feeling like the whole wide world was within reach.

I'd love to relive one tender Tennessee Smoky Mountain Christmas, before life tilted. The hodgepodge of family by birth and by marriage.

Snow up to the window sills and baked ham in the kitchen. Grandparents flanked by their children's children.

Innocence.

I ask myself, if I were really given the chance, would I go back? Relive something that has been safely tucked away in the quiet corners of my heart and mind?  Actually I don't think I would.  Memory is a very precious thing...moments that were savored in the living are cherished there.

I think that's how it should be, how I want it to be.
What about you...do you have a 'Groundhog Day' somewhere in your heart?

Try a little kindness

Did you notice that the calendar turned to February yesterday? Because I didn't. This is one of the problems that comes with an empty nest. My life is not dictated by my calendar like it was when I had children at home and lived by a more rigid schedule. Anyway, it is now February. You're welcome. I think to have an interesting blog you need to have a mildly interesting life. Things have not been terribly interesting around here lately, mostly because it is too cold to do much more than wrap up in a warm blanket while sipping hot cocoa or warm soup while daydreaming about island breezes and sand between your toes. I think you see where I'm headed with this thought....straight to a post about nothing interesting.

Today Dr. Phil saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter. I live in the Northeast and didn't need a groundhog to tell me that. We had snow as late as Easter when I lived in this part of the country before so I will consider it a good thing if winter only lasts six more weeks. And I'm wondering if Phil the Groundhog is your facebook friend because he has a fb page and he has friends. Oh and apparently he texts too. I read a quote by Tom Chapin, editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper who said, "Groundhog Day is a lot like a rock concert but the people are better behaved and there's a groundhog involved." Wow. They know how to work the holiday don't they? Did you know that Phil's cousin has made his home in the rock wall of our back garden?

I guess that makes him a rock star too.

So sorry!

In other news, I went to Walmart yesterday. I know. I think I gave you fair warning that life hasn't been too interesting around here lately. Anyway, I was shopping for this and that and I bought a bottle of Febreze. There are 687 scents to choose from because this is America and just one would never do and I finally decided on this one.

Can anyone tell me what exactly is the scent of light?

I read a sweet post on Rebecca's blog today...she talks about kindness which is something I've been thinking about alot lately. As I was navigating the craziness that is Walmart an older gentleman and I came round a corner at the same moment and were both attempting to squeeze thru a narrow space. He flashed me a great big smile and as he backed up his cart he bowed low and said, 'Beauty before age.' It made me smile. It lightened my heart. It brightened my day. A small act of kindness yet here I am writing about it on my blog. Small acts of kindness are just that. They are small. But their ripple effect can be huge.

In this month of hearts and flowers and groundhogs I want to be kind. To brighten a day. To lighten a heart. As Rebecca says, 'it only takes a little effort.'