The Rain Speaks of Spring

The Rain Speaks of Spring, originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

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First we had temps in the 80's and we were getting a bit spoiled - starting to settle into the notion of Spring. Mother Nature had different ideas and set us straight; we've now had wind, rain and cold (33 degrees) for several days. Tomorrow it's back to sunny and 70's! ;-)
" ...
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
... "

Excerpt from:
Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
~ by Mary Oliver ~

Speaking of Spring, originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

Speaking of Spring 2, originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

Make a wish ... and blow ...

Make a wish ... and blow ..., originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

I wish ... I wish ... and I wish for my family. If only wishing made it so.

"To understand your parents' love, you must raise children yourself." ~
Chinese proverb

I only hope that someday our children do come to understand just how great our love for them is.

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in
the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."

~Erma Bombeck

"Grey's Anatomy" is a guilty pleasure in which I don't often have the chance to indulge ... but tonight I did. This line leaped out at me and stuck. Here's the setup:

At first glance, the family of a dying elderly woman in ER appeared cold and uncaring ... when the woman was resuscitated from a flat line episode, the indignant doctor wanted to clear the room of all the "family love" said with great sarcasm. The old woman shook her head and said,

"No. People are better than no people. They're MY people."

Then came the time when the flat line was final and true - and so were the family's tears and reluctance to let her go. It became real. And they really loved her - in the way of their own - a way she felt and understood. She was their people.

Brought home to me all the love that lies beneath the faults of each individual in a family. Wow. What a plan. :-)

Spring "Break" ...

... is finally over! I think they call it a "break" because it's so crammed full of activities that it does just that to you!

We filled our days and nights so full as to be overflowing with memories: play days with old friends and others with cousins, saw "Inkheart" (and loved it), went to Chili's for Zach's "Pepper Award" free dinner and had Molten Lava Cake. Zachary went swimming at the health club with Grandpa, fishing at the little pond, a picnic/fishing/hiking day at the big pond with all the kids ...

Just getting this photo was an adventure unto itself! It was like herding cats to get them all safely planted and facing the camera at the same time!

"Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness."

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (20th century), Swiss poet, philosopher.) ~

One Hour with Boys in Spring

One Hour with Boys in Spring, originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

This was supposed to be a "fishing" outing ... heh, heh ... ;-)

We interrupted Zach's Indianna Jones play to "draaaag" him to the pond. A compromise was reached with the allowance of boots and hat attire and the roleplay was carried on as it became just another Indy adventure ...

They jettisoned one pole into the pond which necessitated a trip back home for my "hummingbird rescue" pole (a long handled lightbulb changer) for retrieval. They fed a million crackers to the ducks and ate a million snacks themselves. Found a prize in the water (a blue ball), tried enticing turtles to shore with pieces of hotdog on sticks and succeeded in attracting dogs instead. They raced, they climbed; they did everything ... except fish. ;-)

Oh, yes ... the boots? He had to cram his feet in them, but begged to wear them "just one more time". After prying them off later he decided he's ready now to give them to his cousin.

Cormorant Spring Ballet

Cormorant Spring Ballet, originally uploaded by Sparky2*.

Another fun collage from the "fishing trip" with Zachary. Watching this cormorant dry his wings was amazing ... he moved around the water in such graceful circles dipping his wings into the wind ... I actually heard this music in my head as I watched and knew that when I got home I'd have to try ...


See the movie set to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (Scherzo):
www.flickr.com/photos/sparky2/3381889945/in/photostream/

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