Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

So happy it's Friday. I've been struggling along with what appears to be a head cold, although Holly's school sent out an email about kids with RSV, and Holly's been sick again, so ?? Either way, I'm tired of sniffling and coughing. Bleah. And tomorrow I have a two-hour craft class online! I'm kind of excited to do it; it was unexpected, and I was invited to attend, so that's really nice.  I intend to only do groceries and maybe a few little things here or there this weekend. I need to lay low and get rid of this persnickety ick. And it's cold again-- no surprise, but still, ew. G fed his bees some sugar water to keep them going for a bit longer. First blooms (usually dandelions) are coming, but not just yet. But when they do, it feels all of a sudden. And the trees-- we'll be having leaf pollen in no time now. In fact, when I first started coughing, it was during that glorious three days of 65+ degrees, and I thought it might just be allergies. Nope...

It's 38 and rainy, dark...  When I read the news (and I do that far too often), I am tumbled into despair. Well, not quite despair-- but it's close. What can I do? And why should we? The horrors are tangible. Somehow, the national and global angst is pairing up with my odd anxiety about turning 60 in June. Those who have already hit that milestone seem fine enough, but it's really a loud ticking of a clock I hear in my head. And I'm really angry that the time I have left is being bludgeoned by a cabal of evildoers. It just doesn't seem at all fair.  Then I have to pull myself out of that cesspit of worry and "light denied" ( Thanks, Milton) , and figure out how to get one sock on after another.  I have coffee. A warm home. A family that loves me, and even likes me most of the time. I have a job that I do pretty well, and I have friends/acquaintances who seem genuinely pleased to hear from me. While my health is not as good as I'd like, I'm still ki...

Rain. And 34 degrees. And dark.  Yesterday's surprise of 73 and sunny was glorious, but I know in my heart that "it ain't over." Looking at the ten-day forecast, I see 20s and 30s again. Sigh.  But G's bees have survived the winter (so far)!! What a nice surprise for him yesterday. He went to the beeyard expecting to see nothing living, but was greeted by a cloud of bees doing a cleansing flight. Yes, bee poop everywhere. Let's hope they can manage to survive until dandelions pop up.  Us, too. This has been a very difficult winter. Yes, we've had these types of cold/snowy winters before, but seriously, it must be age. I'm tired of fighting it. Not tired enough to move to other locations (alligators, hurricanes, people who would irritate me with nonsense), but tired and ready for spring.  I'm sure you are, too, in many ways. Tired of the cold, both physically and metaphorically.  Have a good day, stay dry, and keep the faith.  C

Man o man, that hour change. It doesn't usually hit me hard, but it did this time. Maybe because I was a little restless sleeping, too, but yikes. Driving to work in the dark was not pleasant, but hey, the 65 degrees in the afternoon sure was.  Sunlight into the evening is nice, too. And the melting...all the melting. And mud. Well, that's not so great, but it's part of the package deal. Holly came home from school covered and wet, straight through her snow pants and her clothes. Tub time at 3pm. Luckily, I was in process with laundry, so in it all went.  Today is voting day in New Hampshire. In our neck of the woods, we do both the town ballot and the school one on the same day (other towns that still use voice vote tend to split them up to different sessions). I'm sure some folks will pause over a lot of the expenditures; prices of every damned thing are rising, town taxes went up, and yeah...when gas has gone up 69 cents in a week, it's hard to feel magnanimous. ...

Well, it looks like Monday found me.  This week is going to be a little weird, at least as schedule goes. Today is normal, so there's that. Tuesday, we have students for a half day, PD for the afternoon, and it's also Town Voting day. I will definitely vote. I refuse to not have my opinions recorded. Wednesday, we have an assembly that takes my entire APLit class time. Thursday, hallelujah, and Friday, will be normal.  I'm going to try to schedule a hair cut-- wish me luck.  At least evenings seem to be on track, which is helpful. We'll have Holly every day except for Tuesday, so I will probably cook something for dinner that is not her favorite. There will be green vegetables, anyhow. Crazy kid doesn't like anything green, except bell peppers and grapes. Weird. But she loves the color green, as I'm told. (And purple, pink, and anything rainbow.) She's a riot. We went to see the new Pixar movie, Hoppers . It was definitely a fun movie, and it had a serious m...

I spent a little over an hour chatting with Nate Alberts on the radio, talking about poetry and poems. Basically, why we desperately need poems, especially in difficult times. Whether those situations are personal or national/ global, words of inspiration, comfort, or companionship are critical to emotional and spiritual survival. We read poems at the important occasions of our lives: weddings, funerals, graduations, and the like. Why does our society then disparage poets? Poems are survival guides. Shelley said that poets are the "unacknowledged legislators of the world," mainly because they both capture the moments and they question them as well, no matter if the moments are individual or on a broader scale.  I shared a few of my touchstone poems, the ones I turn to when I need to feel a little more centered. One is Keats' "When I Have Fears," another is Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese," and the last I shared is Wendell Berry's "The Peace of W...