Turning toward Spring

Things are beginning to return to a normal routine here at Casa John and Judy. Each day brings us closer to spring's full flowering. We're more than ready. We live for the temperate months. 

John has spent most of the past week on his knees pulling weeds. I've been keeping the home fires burning with soups and salads. We are old and content.

Spring always reminds me of my mother-in-law whose birthday was in April. She always had a flowering garden that included daphne. I love that fragrance and it always will remind me of those days at Rose Villa where we visited her for 15 years until her passing. She was a great story teller. I miss those recollections of hers.

This above is another of my favorites; Bleeding Hearts. It isn't fragrant so it has to have a lot going for it  and it does. Delicate pendants that sway in the cool spring breezes. A shade of soft rose that shyly emerges. This one reminds me of another friend who gifted me with the plant on a birthday several years ago.

And the violets. A transplant from a friend who has drifted away. She is in my heart too as her tiny flowers spring forth to remind me of how hard we used to laugh together over so many years. But friends take different paths sometimes, despite intentions that it would be otherwise.

The daylilies are emerging. These came from a man we met only one time who told us to save for retirement. He was on the verge of retiring and trying to get more money socked away for that. It's funny. I'm not even sure how we met. Maybe to buy something off of Craig's list. But the starts he gave us live on and so does the memory of his shared wisdom.

There are new varieties of tomato and peppers growing on the warming trays in the garage. Old and new. John brings them in the kitchen to thin the herd and I whisper encouragement their way. I love these recurring events. The seeds. Then the seedlings. The way life keeps renewing itself with an unflagging vitality. 

Change is constant. I have more wrinkles than ever. More "soft pouches". And better judgment to go along with them (on most days I hope). I marvel over how much can change in only 5 years which pass quickly for me now. These things I consider while I wait for the next wave to catch me and toss me toward the life I have dreamed of, planned for and nurtured into being. I love every moment of this mystery and experience. 

Sending whispered encouragement your way as well. Ciao and abrazos.