Warmer weather brings joy, life

What a beautiful weekend. It feels so good to open the windows and let the fresh air into the house. It feels even better to walk around barefoot and not have frozen toes.

I hauled most of the indoor plants outside this past weekend. They are presently on the porch waiting to find out where they will spend the summer. There are still a couple of the larger plants waiting to be relocated. I even found one that I had completely forgotten about. I have no idea when it was last watered. It is still alive so it has an amazing will to live.

Since it was so nice outside, I cleaned out one of the garden beds and planted a few marigolds and some snap peas. I should have done more, but I ran out of energy and seeds about the same time.

In addition to gardening, I obsessively checked to see if the birthday present for my youngest grandson, Nicholas, was finally on its way. The package went back and forth from Ohio to Indiana several times. The last time I checked it had been at two or three different locations in Indiana within the last few hours and was supposed to be on schedule to be delivered soon. Oops. Now it is back in Ohio. The boy’s birthday was last week. Maybe he will get his present before his next birthday comes around.

Nicholas’ mom asked me to find some cello music for him to learn and play for me. I found a couple of free pieces of music online but have no idea if they will be too hard or too easy for him. He enjoys playing but I doubt if he will be the next cello star. Then, again, anything is possible.

I did get to see footage of Nicholas’ birthday party. It looked like someone had gotten those candles that keep relighting. As soon as he got them all blown out two or three would relight and he would blow them out again.

Even though our birthday present for him had not arrived on time it looked like he was having a good day. He is now 12 years old. It is hard to believe that it has been that long since we first met him. Time goes so quickly any more. Our little boy isn’t so little any more.

He and his brother, Jacob, are playing baseball this year. They have played every year since they were old enough to swing a bat. They seem to enjoy it. Me, I hate sports. I am truly lousy at baseball, and any other game that involves a ball. Plus, I have a total lack of coordination, so that doesn’t help. I gladly leave sports to those who enjoy them. The best I can do is watch as the boys get better and better at something I can never play.

In addition to cheering for the kids from afar, I enjoy watching the yearly parade of flowers as the daffodils are taken over by tulips which fade into the background as the lilacs and alliums have their days in the sun.

Birthdays, lost presents, plants, gardens and grandsons playing baseball all go with warmer weather. I just hope Mother Nature doesn’t do anything nasty to make us pay for it.