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Rain, mud, bees... it's early spring

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Monday-- 39 degrees and raining, and it's been raining all night. Greening up the lawns and trees, pushing up crocuses and daffies... but also muddy and wet. Days like this, I'm grateful I no longer live on a dirt road a mile from pavement as I did from the age of 12 until I got married.  Yesterday, G and I went out for an afternoon coffee, and while we were out, we braved Walmart. Ugh. Hate that store-- it's huge, the floors are concrete, and there's just so much STUFF. That said, G needed a bike helmet. His doctor has been after him to increase his sustained activity (as if 12 hour shifts hauling five gallon buckets of paint isn't enough, but yeah), so he's got his bike up and ready to go. Which is, of course, another good reason not to live on a dirt road-- pavement is kinder to ride on. We also got him a mirror/light thingy too-- safety is a good thing, especially if one is hard of hearing. At any rate, ugh, the store, but okay, we found what we needed (and ...
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We need peace. But we have to work for it.

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Prayer for Divine Mercy Sunday O Father, we humbly come before You, yearning for Your boundless compassion to envelop our hearts. May Your love heal our wounds and guide us in kindness towards others. Help us to reflect Your mercy in our actions, and grant us the strength to extend grace even in our trials. Fill us with Your spirit of compassion, that we may be vessels of Your love. Amen. I watched the vigil for peace yesterday, and Pope Leo XIV had a wonderful "reflection" he offered. He quoted several former popes' words regarding peace; those who think that the Pope is too "woke" would be surprised to realize that the missions of mercy, compassion, and social justice have always been the cornerstone of the Church. Now, I understand that historically, the actions of the Church and her hierarchy have not upheld the missions-- sometime the church's actions have been tragically flawed. But isn't that because the church is made up of human beings? We are n...
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Trashy things, garden ideas, and please, pray for peace today--

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As predicted, it's wet and under 40 degrees at the moment. I pray that the sun comes out earlier than expected, but I'm a realist, too. Holly, Tim, and I will wend our way to Lisbon to the Community Field so that Holly can get to tee ball practice. I've promised a quick stop at Wildflour for a snack after. She's also heading to the movies today to see the Mario thing-- and I'll be heading to the grocery store to forage for sustenance. Saturday, y'know. I'd like to go out for dinner, too-- it's been a crazy busy week, and I'm feeling quite tired. And tomorrow I read at church. Then there's the monthly pancake breakfast!  Where do weekends go, anyhow?  I have a stack of 12 papers to read this weekend, and a bit of general housework, too. I wonder how those people whose social media photos declare that they go here or there and do all this fun and crazy stuff on weekends-- how do they keep their regular life moving along? I wonder if I'm doing ...
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Some gratitudes, small edition

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Brief note of small gratitudes: 32 degrees. No rain yet.  Friday. Holly starts tee ball tomorrow morning. No boots needed. Hot coffee. Owl shirt.  Amen. Have a good day, friends... you know the drill. Love your loved ones, help those you can. C
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What does Thursday mean to you? And I may have a draft...

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How 'bout that? It's Thursday again. Trash-day-eve. Day to do banking, to pay bills, to gather trash to put out on the curb. Quite a different take on Thursday from that of college-aged/ younger folks, I suppose. Thirsty Thursday, indeed. Or for others on social media: Throwback Thursday. I don't participate in either of those.  So, it's the next-to-last day of a work week.  The temps are better-ish: woke up to 20 degrees. Yesterday did warm up to mid-40s, and the forecast for our area is warmer, and staying warmer, for a stretch of days. This is a good thing. I hate being cold. The seductiveness of spring sunshine undercut by chill. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.  I want to stay home and write.  I can't stay home and write. I will be going to work to prod young people to write.  Thursday, writing, and I'm not the one who is.  But I have a draft idea, a little blurt or two, that came from a nice workshop I attended online last night. It was mentored...
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Winter needs to go--

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Twelve degrees, snow on the ground. I'm so over it.  The scheduled baseball/softball games at school were postponed yesterday (snow squalls) and moved to today. I suspect they won't be playing today, either, unless it warms up and dries off miraculously. Why we even schedule games this early is beyond me; they almost never get played. The Red Sox managed a win yesterday in Fenway-- wind chill at the end of the game was 25 degrees.  Winter needs to take a bow. Actually, winter needs to be hustled out the door by two very large bouncers.  And I'm glad to see we averted global annihilation last night. We'll see how long the cease fire lasts; I assume it would take good faith on all parts. I find it interesting that Pakistan is part of the brokered suspension.  I used to like to follow politics, global and national, because I thought it was interesting to see how humans organized themselves, and to what results. Now, I wish it would all just lie down and shut up.  K...
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about snow, spring, stuff in general...stay safe

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More snow. I mean, seriously. Yes, I know it's not unusual. And yes, it'll melt. But gee whiz. Saturday was sunny and almost 70.  This week is already feeling long; yesterday was a rough day at work. I haven't had one of those in a while, but yeah... draining. I hope today is better. And when I get home, I have four loads of laundry to fold. I have such an exciting life, eh?  At least I have the final sales report from the preorder phase for my book. I can start working on the broadsides I promised to send out! That should be a lot of fun. It's kind of like sending out Christmas cards.  (Well, if we get the predicted snow, it'll be just like sending out Christmas cards. sigh.) And we can't find today's newspaper. It's usually here really super early, but not today. Unless it's wedged heaven-knows-where behind something outside. I'll have to check when I leave for work.  The news cycle is apocalyptic. I'm trying not to think too much about it....
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