A Spring--like Day!

What a beautiful 'spring—like' day. I am out and about! I am busy taking off my Christmas lights. Let’s be honest, they are actually from Deepavali. They just serve the same purpose for Christmas, then New Year, and January with its bitter cold does not give us a chance to clean up. I would like to say keep the lights till Valentine’s Day, but that would be too much. Love in the air is enough, I tell you. You may argue that it is a Hallmark card day, and I would counter it with, “Well, you are not in this bitter cold!” A chance to celebrate is what we need and then all those lovely roses, chocolates, the love-smitten look on young girls, and the worried frown on young men’s faces as they shop! It is all worth it. You just must take my word for it. I have to confess that I am happy to have graduated to see ‘love’ on others' faces smilingly, enjoying it even as I remember my own younger days!

One good sun-filled day even in freezing temperatures makes all the difference, I tell you! So, as I continue with clean up and all, I hear a voice call out “Enjoy your day”. I pause to look up and it is the familiar older woman whom I see as she walks every single day just as I head out to school. We have managed to wave at one another for the past four months at least. She has been a sort of clock for me as well. Depending on where I see her on the route, I know how late or early I am to school. Of course, there are days I wonder about her too - as to why she is not walking, or how come she is late and such things. As I shout back “Have a wonderful day your self” she responds with “I am on a mission and the only thing I do for the whole day is walk”. I promise her my company one of these days – you know I like the stories people her age carry, the lives they have lived.

Happy to be able to talk with her finally, I am back to my lights and the clearing of the ground. It is amazing the number of waves you get as you go about your work, making you wonder about all the neighbours you know and the ones you haven’t met yet. Even though Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions are right only about 39% of the time, I am grateful for his prediction of early spring yesterday and the lovely sunshine today! Winter starling murmurations are beautiful. But it certainly feels better to hear the birds sing, the sound of planes flying in perfectly blue skies, and as I clean up the ground from fallen leaves, looking at those bulbs slowly digging their way through the cold earth, I think it should be called a “ground-hugs’ day!

I see the blobs of orange under the thin sheet of ice in my pond….the fish, the ones that made it through the cold days! I fix the fences around flower beds. I watch the dogs playing outside refusing to come in. As much as they don’t care about the cold or snow, I think they feel the joy we feel with the sun shining bright. I know, I know! we still have a month, a leap one at that for any semblance of warmer weather to stay put for a few days at a time, but today I feel and connect with “I want to listen to the enormous waterfall of the sun” as Mary Oliver says.

You don’t want to hear the story
of my life, and anyway
I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen

to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.

And anyway it’s the same old story – – –
a few people just trying,
one way or another,
to survive.

Mostly, I want to be kind.
And nobody, of course, is kind,
or mean,
for a simple reason.

Excerpt from “Dogfish” by Mary Oliver

 

Dear V sir,

That is so cute that Orion makes a go at the pillow! I am sure he is pampered and protected. My rogue puppies have dug so many holes in the backyard, that it is not even funny. I am waiting for them to grow out of that phase but I doubt if Junior will ever do that! My friends from Texas remind me that what I call as warm is indeed cold for them and I appreciate you folks from 'Sunshine State' shivering with a little drop. it is all perspective no? I have a colleague whose brother lives in Alaska and the less said, the better. Recently she shared a story where one of the guys was using a snowplow only to realize he was on top of a neighbor's roof. So I am careful about complaining but you know the cloudy dark days do bring out the complaining state soon unless of course we get a sunny day and then it feels like all is well.

Thank you as always for your response sir.

 

Dear @Thyagarajan sir,

Thank you for your warm response. We have had such a cloud cover, I will not be exaggerating if I had forgotten the moon phases and was pleasantly surprised to see the moon through my window recently! Yet, winter skies are so good for star gazing! Oh well!

 

Dear satchi, @satchitananda yaar! please forgive me. Not sure how I missed seeing your response. May I put all the blame on those wonderful spring-like days with heavy snow in between? Thank you for your words. I truly feel grateful to be able to enjoy the little things --they make it all so beautiful.