The old saying says that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. It’s too soon to say how it will go out, but it came in more like a polar bear. We hardly got above freezing all week and most nights we were well below zero. I always expect too much of March. It is officially winter until the 21st, and winter always overstays its welcome well into April and even May.
These are dull days. There is nothing much to do but wait. We’re waiting to begin spring cleaning. We’re waiting to finish pruning the orchard. We’re waiting to clean the barn. And the woodshed. And the yard. We’re waiting for the snow to go away. Everything seems to be waiting for warmer weather.
We’ve become jaded. I’ll look out the window and say, “Oh, look, it’s snowing.” And everyone makes some sort of quiet negative noise. Or I’ll say something like, “Hey, it’s only twelve below this morning.” And Josiah will say, “Oh, let me go change into my shorts.” We’re tired of talking about the weather, but it seems like it’s all we talk about anyway.
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| Painting. |
I try to keep myself distracted as much as I can while I’m waiting. I spend time every day doing family history indexing. I’ve set a goal to do 2,000 names every month. And I’m halfway through my Agatha Christie reading list now. I’ve also got several painting projects underway. While I paint I’ve been listening to Beethoven on the old stereo. And I’m on the verge of an old movie binge. I ordered some Bette Davis movies from the library. She has always been my favorite actress and the children haven’t seen most of her movies. I’m ordering her films three at a time. That will help us while away a few hours while we wait.
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| My present distractions. |
One of my birthday presents last month was a telephoto lens for my camera from Geoffrey and Joni. I’ve never used such a sophisticated piece of equipment before, but I’m learning. Last week I took some photos of birds at the feeders while sitting in the living room in the bay window. I have to open the window to get a clear shot, so my photo sessions are very brief. I can only keep the window open for a minute or two. It’s great to get such closeup photos from so great a distance. I’m going to have a lot of fun with this.
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| Blue jays and a mourning dove. |
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| A cardinal. |
I planted more seeds last week. I have three trays sitting on heating pads in the upstairs bay window now – various flowers, onions, and most recently, geraniums. Only the onions have sprouted so far, but the others will come up soon.
It’s snowy today and the turnout at church was light – just 26 people in attendance. I only had five people in my Sunday School class. But the meetings were good and those of us who were there were uplifted. Now we’re home, hungry from fasting, and waiting anxiously for lunch. I’m not sure what we’re eating, but from the discussion I can hear coming from the kitchen, it involves tortillas. And I heard someone mention an applesauce cake for later. After we eat, I can’t think of any way better to while away a snowy Sabbath afternoon than with a nice long nap. Maybe I’ll dream of someplace warm.
