When the winter wind chases me indoors, and the sky outside the window remains gray and gloomy, I need to daydream.  Memories of lambs frolicking  under sunny skies won’t stop today’s shivers, but at least I can smile through them.   So today I’ll think about my farmcollie Freckles and his devoted caretaking, and I’ll think
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Yesterday I eased the pickup down the driveway. The feed bins were empty, and I could put off the trip to the feed store no longer. Here’s what I found at the end of the driveway — bare mud on the road. What a beautiful sight! I like mud.

Their house still stands, though it and the rest of the property is neglected and unused now. The county long ago abandoned the road that once bordered the north side of the yard. My youngest daughter and I visited there a few years ago on a long road trip we took for the primary purpose of her gaining a lot more real-world driving experience before taking the exam for her driver’s license. The old farm place seemed a fitting destination for that coming-of-age experience, and I bored her for days with stories of my childhood adventures with my cousins there. Hot summer days picking blackberries . . .

Life’s been busy lately. Too much to do, not enough hours in the day, or enough energy to speed through the to-do list at the pace I moved in my 20s. Or my 30s. Sometimes I get so caught up in keeping up that I lose track of the flow of nature as the seasons progress.

It’s been a while since I posted.  Life’s been particularly busy this spring . . . and I’ve not been up to the challenge of keeping up with any but the most critical tasks.  Now summer has crept upon me before I’m ready.  That’s how life is sometimes. Here’s a quick update – just the
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The woods here are greening.  In the understory the wild rose bushes, buckbrush, and honeysuckle vines are leafing out.  The willows and elms already have tiny leaves, and even the buds on the oaks are swelling.  Oddly, these signs of spring have made me realize something I’ll miss about winter.    I’ll miss the tree
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The roses began to leaf out on the north side of the house, and the wild ones in the woods did the same.  Daylilies and irises sent forth new shoots.  The chickens rejoiced . . . and ate the shoots.  The air felt warm.   It felt like spring.  And then came the snow, as predicted,
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The evening light, when the skies are clear, shines a rich, amber gold light across the fields in the moments before the sun sinks below the western horizon.  It’s not so flashy a view as the sunset itself, but it’s everywhere.  I need only turn my back on the main show and look around me. 
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I know that a hurricane is a fearful thing – my grandparents spent their last decade or so in a beach community on the Florida panhandle.  They evacuated for hurricanes and rode out tropical storms in their little block house, and they described each ordeal in great detail, pictures included.  I have great sympathy for
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Blue skies over the prairie for days and days, and the wind blows nicely. The flowers bloom. The bugs crawl around on the flowers