Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Tuesday

The natural world is, today, in its monochromatic phase. A squirrel leaps from snowdrift to the crab apple. It's the only place where you'll see color right now (not in the squirrel who is, predictably, gray, but in the bits of fruit still clinging to the tree -- faded remnants of another day, another season).


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Never mind. It's all inconsequential. We were to have more snow, we didn't have more snow, we may get a half an inch of wintry mix, or not -- these are the details of a day that matter if you can't rid yourself of a preoccupation with the dragginess of this winter. Me, all I can see is the string of sunny days down the pike (starting soon!). Everything else is just a wait, made tolerable in the way that airport waits are made tolerable by images of what lies ahead.

Breakfast is fine. Ed isn't going to give me an easy shot, though again, it hardly matters when there are copious bunches of daffodils and ever-exploding orchids in the frame.


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You would think I'd be dragged down, too, by the small amount of sleep I logged in last night. Sometime midway through the night it struck me that the bright days ahead will be a lot more fun for Snowdrop if she has a jacket that isn't as huge, or as confining as a snowsuit for our outdoor adventures. There I was, a 3 a.m. shopping for my granddaughter. Successfully! (I hope.) Next week will reveal whether she appreciates my efforts on her behalf.

In fact, I'm not dragged down at all. I am cloyingly chipper and happy, all the more so because little Snowdrop is dropped off at the farmhouse for her Tuesday visit.


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(cheek to cheek with mousie)


The little one cycles through a lot of terrain today! Play with mousie, play with moosie, play with grandma's camera, sleep, squirm, eat and then another round! Consider her day in this whirligig of photos (some on a self-timer, which makes for its own interesting game!):


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(her "I'm not a newborn anymore" face)




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(let's go wild with Minnesota moosie!)




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(grandma, you are not moosie!)




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(grandma, could you hold me?)




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(okay, I'm happy again)




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(very happy.)




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(and very tired)

She leaves. I turn off the music that she enjoys so much. Suddenly the farmhouse is quiet. Too quiet.