Top Ten Reasons I Want Spring to Arrive!

10. I want to open this gate again!
9. I want to find out if the stuff buried under the ice can be salvaged.
8. I want a locate a place we can drive to, get out of the car, let the dogs run without slipping on ice, and not be concerned the car will get stuck, or or we will run into a snow berm.
7. I want to sit at the table in the yard.
6. I want to see a crocus break through the soil.
5. I want to see a campground open!
4, I want to taste a fresh rhubarb crisp warm out of the over with ice cream.

3. I want to fill a bird feeder.
2. I want to breathe in the rich, earthy smell of dirt again.
and the number one reason I want spring to arrive is so I can pick my own bouquet of flowers once again!

My Eight Special Valentines

I am enjoying this day with my eight special valentines.
Happy Valentine's Day to each and every one of you!

The Heart of the Matter,Part 2: Treasures

Valentine Treasures
Valentine treasures are people who
have often crossed your mind,
family, friends and others, too,
who in your life have shined
the warmth of love or a spark of light
that makes you remember them;
no matter how long since you’ve actually met,
each one is a luminous gem
who gleams and glows in your memory,
bringing special pleasures,
and that’s why this Valentine comes to you:
You’re one of those sparkling treasures!
Joanna Fuchs

The Heart of the Matter, Part 1 : Waiting

Waiting

Left off the highway and
down the hill. At the
bottom, hang another left.
Keep bearing left. The road
will make a Y. Left again.
There's a creek on the left.
Keep going. Just before
the road ends, there'll be
another road. Take it
and no other. Otherwise,
your life will be ruined
forever. There's a log house
with a shake roof, on the left.
It's not that house. It's
the next house, just over
a rise. The house
where trees are laden with
fruit. Where phlox, forsythia,
and marigold grow. It's
the house where the woman
stands in the doorway
wearing the sun in her hair. The one
who's been waiting
all this time.
The woman who loves you.
The one who can say,
"What's kept you?"

by Raymond Carver

Afternoon Shadows In the Greenhouse

Winter is getting long
students are getting cabin fever
today I heard one yell, " I am SICK of snow".
the ice has never melted around my outside door of the classroom,
the ice has turned to a hue of blue.

It's time to load up my bags
return home again
and step into the greenhouse.

I can't think of a lovelier place to spent some time during this end-of-winter funk!

A Note

A Note

Life is the only way
to get covered in leaves,
catch your breath on the sand,
rise on wings;

to be a dog,
or stroke its warm fur;

to tell pain
from everything it's not;

to squeeze inside events,
dawdle in views,
to seek the least of all possible mistakes.

An extraordinary chance
to remember for a moment
a conversation held
with the lamp switched off;

and if only once
to stumble upon a stone,
end up soaked in one downpour or another,

mislay your keys in the grass;
and to follow a spark on the wind with your eyes;

and to keep on not knowing
something important.

~ Wislawa Szymborska ~

( from Monologue of a Dog, translated by S. Baranczak and C. Cavanagh)