Wnter Warmth....

I'm sitting here at my desk - have finished my newsletter, returned all necessary phone calls, reviewed the residents' charts and had my obligatory cup of coffee. And decided to post on my blog....haven't been able to do that as regularly as I'd like.

The sun is shining right now and it almost feels like spring! The other day as I was walking to my car in the morning I actually heard birds chirping! Even though there is still a foot of snow in some places around here - I do believe that we are turning the page on a new season.

I love spring! It signifies the end of winter and is the prelude to summer. (I love summer even better!) When late hubby was still here, on the first real sunny day of spring - we would open the garage door and position our chase lounges so that we were blocked from the wind but sitting smack in the middle of the sunlight - turn the radio on and close our eyes and pretend we were sitting on some exotic beach somewhere.

Neither of us were fans of the snow and cold.

When the kids were younger we decorated our finished basement in a beach theme. Painted the walls a sand color - installed an aqua carpet and hung pictures of beaches, light houses and seashells all around. It was our escape from winter get-away. One time we set up the patio umbrella table down there, cranked up the kerosene heater so it felt warm and almost humid, and lit some coconut candles. I made a macaroni salad and hubby pulled the gas grill under an eave outside and cooked some hot dogs. With a jar of dill pickles and a bag of chips we had our own little picnic with the kids - smack dab in the middle of February.

Those were good times!

I miss that the girls are all grown up now. And I miss that I seem to be so busy these days that I don't give into the spontaneity that used to be such a big part of my life. So two weeks ago I decided to have snow day with my 5 year old grandson. We bundled up and went over to the new house where grandpa was working. First we had a snowball war. Then we followed deer tracks into the woods. We hiked down the path that leads to the swamp (and I got a soaker!) We built a snowman with a fat orange carrot for a nose and real charcoal chunks for his eyes and mouth. We gathered wood and made a big roaring campfire that we sat at as we munched on crackers and let our wet mittens dry on a branch nearby.

At one point the little guy looked up at me with his big round blue eyes and said "Gramma - this is the funnest thing ever!"

These are still good times....!