Aaahhh

Tonight, God willing, I will experience one of the entries on my "life list". A hint:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Today

I am loving this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcXI2BIUOQ

I have come here several times in the last weeks to post, and not knowing what to say, say nothing. How this "place" will function for me is still being worked out. Still brewing, like a strong tea.
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The recent floods in the midwestern United States have touched my community deeply. New acquaintances lost their home. Many others have lost their homes as well. Many local farms will have a long road to recovery ahead of them, if recovery is even possible for them. Acres and acres of lost crops. Crops that help feed our nation. Crops where planting dates and productive time in the soil means everything. The reverberations of that loss will touch us all. The recovery process of the community, the county, the families, will be ongoing for a long time. To try and describe the flooding to people who didn't see or experience it... the words "unbelievable" and "indescribable" are the only words I can produce. Even now, a few weeks after the flooding, the aftermath in many places is still unbelievable and indescribable. People need help. Everywhere. People like you and me. Two-income families. One-income families. No-income families. Families who were making it through before, now need help. Families who struggled before are struggling more now. They need clothes. They need shelter. They need food. Federal help will go to those at or near poverty level. The rest have to try to rebuild their lives on their own. Imagine you lost everything. How easily could you replace it? Have you ever felt fear? Despair? Depression? Our families and our communities need our helping hands. And our prayers.

Spring

Spring is here. Nevermind that it should have been here three or four weeks ago... Daffodils blooming. Trees budding. Birds singing. Seeds sprouting. Screen door in use (and slamming eagerly). Dreams realized.

I went for a walk in the woods a while ago and took special notice of all the mayapples coming up, along with the unfurling fiddlehead ferns. Fiddleheads have a taste that some say is similar to asparagus, broccoli, and beet greens. There are lots of interesting fiddlehead fern recipes here: http://gonewengland.about.com/od/fiddleheadsrecipes/. I can't wait to try some of them.

If your weather is keeping you inside today, here are a few of my favorite blogs you may wish to explore.

• http://boskydellfarm.blogspot.com/
• http://frecklewonder.typepad.com/
• http://turkeyfeathers.typepad.com/
  
  Enjoy this beautiful spring day.

The weather outside ....

is cold. No. It is cold, cold, cold. This morning a wintry fog had settled in. Very pretty, but cold. The people who "know" weather are calling for some snow tonight.
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I have been busy working, caring for loved ones, preparing for the holidays. Trying to get it all where I want it...
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This blog is a new one for me and I will write here when I am able, what I am able. It is my blog, and what I write, when I write, how I write, if I write, will always be my choice. Reading it will always be the reader's choice.

First "real" post

How time flies when there is much to be done.

I started this in the hopes of having a place (of my very own) to come to, to grow, to share, to learn, and perhaps to meet people of like minds. It's curious, my beginning here on Blogger. In life, I am a very private person and I find it curious that I wish to do something like this. How my time here (and my posts here) proceed, will be something very telling, I think...

On another note, I like lists, so I will share a few today.

Five Things I Did Over the Weekend:
1. went for a walk in the woods
2. about 7 loads of laundry
3. caught some fish (bluegill)
4. tried a new recipe for a Chicken Pasta bake, which turned out just "okay"
5. read (finally) the premiere issue of the second coming of "Victoria" magazine. (Not quite like the first incarnation. I am hoping it becomes closer to what it once was.)

Five Things I Am Looking Forward to Today:
1. funds hitting my bank account
2. a bubble bath
3. a good salad
4. the warm rain that is predicted for later today
5. making art

First post

Just settling in...