Getting started

"It's a new day" as the line of a popular song says, and spring in the Maritimes is beginning to show it's lovely head round about the countryside. Of course Old Man Winter held on longer than we wanted (except for the ski enthusiasts who want snow until June) but I'm starting to dream of my lily patch and I can almost smell the sweet fragrance of the orientals. I can feel their smooth petals against my face and see my feline sprawled out between the stalks, taking a nap in the mid-afternoon sun. Spring is my absolute favourite time of year and brings back so many memories as a child growing up in a small farming community nestled amongst hills of hardwoods and groves of fir trees. My sisters and I could not wait to get out the rubber boots and wade in every single puddle and see who could get stuck the deepest in the soft mud that lay beneath the melting snow piles. There was never a thought about the uncertainty of the future. We just enjoyed the moments as they came and made our own fun. Oh, wouldn't it be grand to go back there for a little while, if only to catch a glimpse of life without stress. Ah-h-h-h, I can smell that mud surrounding my feet and hear the laughter of the other kids as someone gave in and pulled me out. With our mud-streaked faces and cold feet, we'd run with the spring wind to see who could get back to the house first and gobble up a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, washed down with a huge plastic cup full of milk. Did those days ever truly exist? Was life ever that simple and real? If the answer was "no" I would not be who I am today. For more "bits and pieces" stay tuned for another day. Barb