Strength and Beauty

The other night I came home to buckets and buckets of fresh cut lilac. I love Spring! LoAnn had gone out “picking”, if you catch my drift. I have been cultivating my own lilac bushes, but, alas they have not given one bloom yet. Their still babies (grinning-me).

LoAnn did some pounding with a hammer on their stems and plunged them into hot water which is supposed to preserve their blooms. Later, I trimmed them all down filling every vase I have in the house, from the tall, elegant crystal vases to every last bud vase. Lilacs on the kitchen window sill, the kitchen nook table, lovely purple blooms on my desk, in the bathrooms, next to my bed, on the radiator next to my orchids (competing for attention), on the slender table in the dining room, on the small table in the living room with the lamp above casting perfect light on the lavender shades of aromatic petals. And, oh the smell. A house full of lilac is what I had!

Imagine it!

I came home today after a long day at the cancer clinic, emotional tank empty and used up after expending a good portion of it on helping a man and his father cope after a grand mal seizure. Upon entering my back door off the mud porch, there greeted me from the makeshift scrapwood island, bundles and bundles of cut tulips and rosebuds. Burnt orange with flames of yellow on the lips of the tulips, purples rich in grey and hints of burgundy and pinks that are the color of my little girls cheeks when they are overheated. My husband had went over the top in his extravagance. I had asked for a little bundle of tulips (think Jewel) and he came home with put your entire hands around the bunch of tulips (think bulk from Sam’s Club). I divided them all up into little bouquets in dainty bud vases and long, elegant stem vases and scattered them throughout the house. I then go to the dining room table (which has now been moved in front of the piano in the living room…still undecided about furniture arrangement this Spring) and there was a box from my favorite online yarn store! It felt like Christmas! Audrey helped me unpack and of course she had to “organize” all the skeins into matching colors. I had bought a cheap basket at Joanne’s earlier and I found myself walking around the house with this basket heaping full of yarns of all delicious colors: chocolate raspberry, teals, deep greens of the forest, gumball pinks with hints of peach, warm browns…

Ahhhh, color.
It speaks to me this evening and makes me feel unusually happy.

It snowed last night.
We awoke early to the sounds of gurgling and cooing baby noises in the far northern corner of the house and AA climbing into bed next to me, curling into a little ball in the curve of my long body.

The shades were drawn up and we peered out into a winter wonderland, Audrey exclaiming, “It’s Christmas!”

Later this morning she tells me, “Mama, we need a Christmas tree.” Of course. “And a sled,” she tacks on. I concur.

God bless LoAnn who proceeded to spend the rest of the morning with her building a snow-girl with a long mane of moss hair and eyelashes. And because the snow was so wet and heavy, branches from the old maple were falling to the ground and made for an excellent Christmas tree farm. They made handmade Christmas ornaments, leftovers from Valentine’s day and decorated the Christmas tree in the backyard. What a grand time!

I, in the mean time, was out visiting patients in Waukegan and Beach Park, thoroughly enjoying the heavy laden snow branches. I stood on the stoop of a patient’s front porch admiring the quiet stillness that snow lends and the chunky white stuff clinging to the huge buds protruding on the magnolia tree. I found myself just drinking in all that beauty despite having to traipse about in it, getting stuck in it here and there, caring for the sick on a Sunday morning when most are still in their pajamas drinking coffee. Feeling thankful and full of joy, for all the beauty and quietness of snow.

Do not curse this white stuff. It is God’s message to me (and to you) of his beauty and his stickiness. He clings to us like wet snow on every inch of every branch of every tree sprawling the entire countryside of the midwest. That is some expansive, tenacious and wet kind of love.

Can I get an AMEN for the beautiful weather we had here in Chicago this weekend?

I spent every day at the Illinois State Beach Park, lingering on the beach with Audrey Anne acquiring more freckles and going for long walks in the woods and along the shore. These nature trails are my new discovery that I am just reveling in like a delicious perfume. I went Saturday morning and fell in love. Wild roses lining the paths sending up there light scent; made me want to invest in anything rose scented (call me old lady). Wild irises, lilies, these interesting purple droopy flowers, little five petaled white flowers that looked like strawberry plant flowers. I even saw cacti with extraordinary yellow blooms. This orange blossomed plant was everywhere covered in butterflies. The colors scattered through the woods was eye candy for me and I needed it so badly.

I spent time in the garden every day, too. I am loving my garden these days. Transplanted some sunflowers I planted from seed that took off in a space that isn’t getting too much sun. I kind of gave up on the vegetable garden this year and they were in that corner. So I moved them to two other plots in the front of the house and near the fence in the backyard where they will get much more attention and glory. Weeding and more weeding, but that’s okay, because it makes all those little plants happy as they stretch their roots and leaves out. Thankful for all the rain and sunshine these past few weeks.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend outside!