Spring and a New Friend

It’s finally Spring up at the cabin.

  Time to put in a garden.

Work until 7:30 pm and still have light…

View from the old home place.

And then, wandering along the trail and triggering the trail cam, comes my new buddy, Oswald.

Springing Forth

Finally.  The long winter eases into Spring.  Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it seem as if this year the colors are a bit more lush and the color palate rich with hues and tones that might not have been quite so varied had Winter not conspired to keep us all blanketed in white?

My friend, Becky the retired art teacher, came up the lane yesterday with her husband, James, the farmer.  He’d come to finish clearing some land and she’d come along to watch, bringing a picnic supper for them both.

“People don’t stop and appreciate life anymore,” she said. “They’re all multi-tasking.  Look at this…”  She waved her hand to indicate the mountainside. “When I was younger, I thought Fall had all the colors, but look at those trees and the sky.  It’s an artist’s dream.”

We watched James work his big earth mover, shaking dirt loose from tree trunks and branches and carefully piling them up into a brush pile for burning.  He was like a seven year old boy in a big man’s world.  For a moment I saw my own boys, three and five, playing in the sandbox with their toy excavator and sand pails.

Becky said “James and I are lucky.  He retired and decided to buy a few cows. Now it’s a full time job…for both of us.  We do everything together.  I feel sorry for people who don’t share.  His brother retired and now all he does is sit in his recliner and say how bored he is.  And his wife suddenly had him underfoot.  It’s bad over there.” She shook her head sadly.  “They have nothing in common and they’re not even trying to do anything new.”

Her gaze drifted back to her husband and she smiled wistfully.  “It’s really sad when people can’t learn to share.”

She said the word “share” like she was talking about children sharing toys and suddenly I saw it in that new light.  Sharing lives. Agreeing to disagree. Forgetting to compete. Enjoying the differences. Renewal. Spring.

What a concept.