PATIENCE...

As I write this,

 it is bone chilling cold outside. 

 Last week, 

I wrote about how the sun had come out

 and we were really entering into the 

Spring cycle.

 It was so nice, 

I said, 

that the air smelled fresh and pure

and the colors of spring were brilliant, 

to the point of 

hurting our eyes.

 Now,

 there are swarms of little birds 

rushing the holly tree, 

picking something off that 

only their little eyes can see, 

and then rising up into the sky. 

 A black cloud in search of 

another neighborhood. 

 Above, 

they have left a few behind,

 silhouetted against a gray sky,

 possibly

 to protect their spoils

 until the others 

make their return trip,

 as they have been doing each day.

Now,

 later in the morning, 

the air remains cold and 

rain is falling. 

 Oh, 

wait a minute,

 that rain has now turned to snow. 

 Nothing is sticking and

 after awhile the snow is gone,

 a slight drizzle remains, 

and we are back to 

very cold, gray skies.

I have never been 

what you would call

 a patient person.

 I can become engrossed 

in a project, 

one with minute details and 

that takes a lot of time, and

 stick to it until the end, 

but waiting for a table 

or in a grocery store checkout line 

are not things that I like to do. 

 Although,

 I enjoy being with people, 

I would rather tackle a task

 by myself, 

following my own plans and

 getting things done. 

 I am no good at

 putting a puzzle together 

as that entails a plan

 not of my making and

 it frustrates me.

 Along with all of those pressures

 having been piled upon my shoulders, 

I find that one of my 

least patient qualities 

is waiting for this horrible winter 

to be done.

 This teasing

by Mother Nature is

 getting so tiresome.

 Today was a day

that we were going grocery shopping. 

 It has been a little over a week 

since our last trip and 

we are rooting through the cupboards,

 looking for dinner provisions,

 but with this unpredictable weather system,

 we decided not to go. 

 You know,

 I'm no good at it,

 but the Captain 

can make a meal out of 

practically nothing,

 so I knew we wouldn't starve, but...

...not having

 fresh flowers on the table 

is unforgiveable!

On a trip to Home Goods awhile back, 

I was looking for some pillows

 with brightly flowered patterns on them. 

 I thought

 that would brighten up these

 dull days. 

But, 

as much as we all love Home Goods,

 do you ever go and 

not find one thing of interest?

 That doesn't happen to me very often

 but on this trip, 

even though the shelves were full,

 none of the colors were right, 

it all looked kind of junky, and 

there was a lot of broken stuff.

 I did spot 

these two black and white pillows 

that I liked. 

The ones that I use most of the time

 are falling apart and

 I do think a bit of black 

always looks good. 

I think these will

 look right at home with

 some other 

colorful pillows added in.

I did add some more 

galvanized pieces to the shelf. 

I think that star 

is kind of pretty and 

a different look 

from the usual barn stars.

 The star and the "O" are from

Hobby Lobby.

The lilac buds 

are going to be opening soon. 

 With them, 

I hope that the nice weather 

will return also and 

I won't have to depend totally 

on Trader Joe's 

for fresh flowers...

and my solemn wish 

is that I can...

"Adopt the pace of nature: 

her secret is patience."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

...Judy...

FYI: 

I wrote this yesterday (Monday). 

Just before I was going to post today,

guess what?...

Spring is back!

 The sun is out and brightly shining! 

Oh, Lordy! 

Trader Joe's here we come!

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