Introductory Post

The days keep getting shorter, a reminder that my time here is growing shorter with every passing season. I have known 241 season changes and I have vivid memories of the excitement of each transformation. Spring breakup with the ice moving out of the rivers and lakes, water trickling through the leftover winter salt and sand accumulated along the sides of the roads, the fresh aroma of newly exposed soil and rotted foliage in the woods, and most of all the earlier mornings heralded in by the wake-up call of thousands of returning  song birds. It is always so exciting to see the first robin, the first crocus, and new moms walking their winter babies when the magic of spring thaws the ground and warms the air. At times in our part of the world, the shift from spring to summer is less obvious, and definitely not defined by a specific date. It is defined by the day on the Sand River, when a late spring snow and cold temperatures give way to sunshine and warm winds turn to scorching heat by afternoon. It is when you can be wearing mittens one day and shorts the next. What I treasure most is the feel of the warm sun on my arms and the gift of seeing and smelling the seasonal arrival of many summer flowers. I am always amazed that every shrub of a particular plant family bloom on the same day. Summer leaves me in awe of nature!  Sixty autumns…what can I say? My eyes have seen billions of brilliant orange, brown, yellow and crimson leaves. I have heard the Canada geese in the sky as they move south for the winter, and my yard has been busy with squirrels and chipmunks gathering provisions before the ground is covered with snow. Evenings become longer with more time to reflect and write. Just as I think I can’t take the darkness any more, nature provides a gift of light through a blanket of snow reflected by the moon or sun to bring me alive once more. This is why for many years as the first snowflakes would flutter to the ground, I would put on happy Christmas music and call my best friend to share our excitement about the light. So here I am, 61 autumns, 60 springs, 60 summers and 60 winters, and I ask myself how I have recorded those times and the simultaneous life experiences and events I lived through. How will I record the many more to come? That will be the nature of this blog:  Looking back and forward through pictures, sketches, doodles, essays, and poems. Hope to see you here.