Spring Comes Slowly

What a lesson in patience Spring is teaching me this season!

I want it now!!

I want the smells, the color, the heat of a new spring morning.

But Spring this year says, "Wait. Patience. Enjoy THIS moment. Not the one that will be coming, but THIS very moment."

Dark-eyed Junkos used this birdhouse this year for their
clutch of hatchlings.

So I watch the Dark-eyed Junko pair feed their babies and listen to his irritated "chit-chit-chit" when I get too close to the nest. And see how they both trust me when I back away so they can continue to do their parental duties.

Today I weeded and trimmed the raspberry patch, added some organic soil for topping (it needs more) and repaired the metal guides that will keep the vines from falling down.

It was enjoyable to simply sit on my weeding bench and pull everything that is not raspberry.

A few bees stopped by to see if there were any blooms worth investigating and in the distance I could hear the local target range firing their clay pigeons into the air, motorcycles were zooming along in the sunshine, swallows were doing their vortexy circles and I was totally focused on my task.

(NOTE: I started writing this in mid-May and now at the edge of June, I am finally getting it posted. The message is still the same; appreciate now... no regrets for yesterday, no anxiety about tomorrow.)

Although I felt a little achy when I was done, it was satisfying and meditative. I'm learning... be here now. In THIS moment.

How was your weekend?

Cats do not know what the word
'work' means... we should follow
their example of living. (This is
Maksim, the Russian Blue.*)

Today my friend Carol called and her first question was "How was your weekend?"

I had to stop for a second and think... 'Weekend? What is that?' and then I replied, "Carol, all my weekends run together since I don't have any week days in between anymore. My life is great, I'm loving what I'm doing - or not doing. It's all very good."

For example, this morning I was up with the birds, literally. They tuned up about 4:30 a.m., I got up and looked out the window. "Hmmm, gonna be a nice clear day. I might want to water the berries later." Then I went and made some oatmeal (with blueberries from the store) and a cup of tea.

Back to bed to eat the oatmeal and read a story on my Kindle. Now the sun is really coming up and I'm feeling sleepy again. So I pull the covers over my head and take a nap.

Mallard duck watercolor on 9x9
paper, finished today.

Around 8 a.m. I decide to get up and get ready for my art class. I putter about and grab a jar of jam I made a few days ago to give to my teacher. She likes me already, so I'm not buttering her up or anything. I just appreciate her taking time to give us her knowledge.

Class goes until noon, so I head home again and read some mail, make a nice salad for lunch, but in the process I was reminded that I had four boxes of strawberries that needed to be hulled and frozen.

After a leisurely lunch watching the news (Twitter feed, Facebook and other postings) about the R2AK unpowered race to Alaska up the inland passage, I decide to cut the berries up, eating a few and then getting them into the freezer.

First crop of raspberries from my bushes... easy to grow here.

A trip outside to the freezer reminds me I have raspberries about to be picked and they also need some watering.

So I go and pick two pints of berries, then water them. Now it's 4 p.m. and time for tea. I answer some texts from my daughter about a visit and go for a walk.

Cleopurrtra looking up at the birds
that woke us up earlier today.

In a few hours it will be dark and I'll get my Kindle and another cup of tea, go and sit with a cat as a pillow and my day will be nearly over.

No stress, no loud voices, no demands... following my bliss.

This is what it means to be Retired For Good... and it is good.

* NOTE: Maksim and Cleopurrtra are rescue cats. When I first adopted Max, he was looking for the KGB around every corner, scared of everything. Today he is a relaxed, normal, still-a-bit-shy guy, but very different from the cat I brought home. And some of the credit goes to Cleo who was a 6-month old kitten and still loves to play. She forces Max to join her in her nightly entertainments from time to time and he's learned to love the window seat, too.

These two fur-iners in my life keep me on track so everybody wins.

Where is summer?

Another day with brief sunshine and very cool temperatures leads me to wonder where summer is.


I went to Home Depot to see if they had any, and after the clerk looked at me quizzically, he laughed and said, "Oh, it must be on back order."

My garden doesn't seem to care that the daytime temps don't get above 58 degrees lately.

Bees are pollinating my raspberries - looks like it will be a
big crop if all the blooms stay on.

The raspberries are in bloom and the bees are busy cross-pollinating. I wonder a little about where their hive is and what their honey might taste like.

I discovered that eating a 1/2 teaspoon of raw local honey this year helped me to avoid the congestion of allergies. Nice.

Peonies bloomed and passed, the dogwood blossoms draw in the hummingbirds and the clematis that Beloved gave me last year is in a glorious state of color.

Interesting to think that he is now with a new girlfriend and couldn't care much about how his gift is still being appreciated. But I am grateful for the color and the present joy it brings.

The dogwood blossoms are quite pink and lovely this year.

I have been out and done some weeding and assessing what really will need to come out this summer and be replaced with something new and healthier.

It really is delightful to go out in my own yard and around the area when the sun is out and the colors are rich in so many gardens. But the rain or blustery winds have kept it cool enough that even a short walk is not that enjoyable.

I think the hot weather we had in April was too much of a tease and now I am impatient for the next season. And really, each day has it's own joy, it's own moment of delight... and I expect if it bolted into the 80's I would be no happier than I am right now.

The solstice will be upon us soon, Mercury will go direct, and everything is in order.

Patience... everything is working out for me, and when I truly allow that concept to sink in, I'm doing just fine where I am.

Clematis, a gift from Beloved last year, blooms with a more
intense color than it did when gifted to me.