February is living up to my expectations – slow, plodding days and nasty weather with snow and sub-zero temperatures. One of the things that redeems this dreary month is birthdays. There are a lot of birthdays in February. My Great Aunt Esther used to call us the February Birthday Club. Her birthday was the 24th and she was the charter member of the club. Other members were and are – her father (my great grandfather) Theodorus Howe on the 14th, my Aunt Joyce on the 23rd, my nephew Adam and my cousin Micki on the 8th, my niece Elizabeth on the 4th, my niece Riley on the 12th, my daughter Rachel on the 7th, and me on the 11th. I’ll be 56 years old on Tuesday. I used to say that I couldn’t believe I was as old as I was. I’ve never really felt my age. Until recently, that is. Gray hair, a middle age paunch, and increasing aches and pains have me feeling (and looking) my age pretty keenly these days.
The combination of undeniably advancing age and the general bleakness of February always makes me feel a bit introspective around the 11th. I look back over my life and it doesn’t seem like I’ve done much. I’ve never been an ambitious person. I’ve never wanted fame or fortune, so I guess I can consider myself successful in that regard. My greatest accomplishments in life seem to be centered on my family, in being the father of some pretty great children, and in my gardens, being the caretaker of a few acres of earth. The rest of everything just seems to chug along.
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| The Allegheny Reservoir near the Kinzua Dam. |
Speaking of great children, Josiah went to District Band last week on Thursday and Friday. He was one of two students selected to attend from our high school. He was nervous about going. It was his first time (they only take students in grades 10 - 12), and he was dreading his audition. He did great. He placed second chair in his French horn section and will go on to Regional Band in March. This year the District Band Festival was held in Youngsville, Pennsylvania, about two and a half hours west of here. Stacey, Hannah, and I drove over on Friday evening to attend the concert and bring him home. The concert was excellent. We’re very pleased that Josiah has been so diligent in practicing and has done so well.
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| We arrived early and got good seats. |
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| The District Band - 160 students. Josiah is in there somewhere. |
My father underwent double bypass surgery and is doing well. My sister Nancy is there staying with my mom and she reports that dad is recovering nicely and they hope he’ll get to go home today or tomorrow. My thanks for the concern and prayers of so many people on his behalf.
There is another bright spot on bleak horizon of February – this week I will begin growing my vegetable garden. I will plant the first of my seed starts, celery, on Valentine’s Day. Celery is slow growing and needs a big head start to produce here where our growing season is so short. The celery seeds I start this week should be ready to plant outdoors the first week of June. I will start other seeds starting the first week of March and every week after that. I'm really looking forward to planting all those trays of seeds and tending the little seedlings.
Sarah has fled the cold and snow (it’s even worse in Detroit than it is here) and gone to Mexico with several of her friends for a week. They will be on the Yucatan Peninsula and plan to visit sites like Chichen Itza, Coba, and Uxmal as well as spend time at the beaches at Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We’re excited to hear about her adventures and see her pictures when she gets back.
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| The Genesee River. |
It’s snowing today – no surprise there. On our way home from church we saw a flock of wild turkeys on a frozen pond near Shongo, New York. I tried to get a picture of them, but they are wary birds and flew off as soon as we stopped, so the photo didn’t turn out very good. In honor of Sarah’s trip to Mexico, we’re having tacos for lunch. Josiah is frying the corn tortillas right now. Stacey is slicing an avocado. I can smell the spicy meat cooking. We're having champurrado (Mexican hot chocolate) to drink. It’s just what I need to take my mind off the cold and snow, at least for a little while.
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| Wild turkeys on a frozen pond near Shongo, New York. |
