End of February

Here we are at the end of February, a month I must confess I am always glad to see pass by. This year was unusual as Lent did not start yet, although it is coming next week and we are already in some pre-Lent modes.

Here is another small, yet unusual site:

Do you see that dark, grainy stuff on the left and right side of the stones? That, dear reader, is grass--or what grass looks like after 5-6-7 weeks under snow. Our deer are having a field day on our east lawn as they graze, heads down, for 45 minutes or so every afternoon in the newly-exposed grass.

Also, do you see that lighter region on the wall with the windows, continuing along to the left side? That is sunlight and today, although our temperatures were quite chilling by themselves, bright, bright winter sunlight warmed our hearts something fierce after, again, how many days of grey and overcast skies!

All in all these are positive signs and with the calendar changing over to M-A-R-C-H this Saturday--I'm nearly euphoric.

Here's a long overdue reflection by Mary Oliver, on life (be it winter or summer):

On Traveling to Beautiful Places

Every day I'm still looking for God

and I'm still finding him everywhere,

in the dust, in the flowerbeds.

Certainly in the oceans,

in the islands that lay in the distance

continents of ice, countries of sand

each with its own set of creatures

and God, by whatever name.

How perfect to be aboard a ship with

maybe a hundred years still in my pocket.

But it's late, for all of us,

and in truth the only ship there is

is the ship we are all on

burning the world as we go.