Thursday

You could tell me -- careful what you wish for! I praised "sunny and cold" over "dreary but warmer" and today delivered a load of the first. Plenty of sunshine and really a significant dip in temperatures. A high of 16F (or -9C).

I'll take it!

Breakfast in the sun room!






It's odd how this year, the story of the groundhog looking for his shadow seems so trite, so ridiculously childish, especially when politicians would take part in the whole carnival of taking a poor groundhog out for that definitive inspection. Me, who loves the trite, the playful romp, the silly stuff that make up our everyday or every year --somehow I can't get a chuckle going over politicians fooling around with groundhogs this February 2nd.

The world has become a very serious place this year and my chuckles remain tied to home.



Because it is really quite cold, I can't do much of anything outdoorsy with Snowdrop. And yet I know she has now been spoiled into believing that after school we can spend at least a little time outdoors. I need a counter plan!

In the end I pick for us a trip to our local library. It's nearly always empty at the noon hour and I am hopeful that over time, she'll develop better library habits. Right now, she loves the books and the toys there, but the enormity of choice throws her off. She goes from one play table to the next, from one book to another and my admonition that she must replace one thing before moving on to something else is still very hard for her to follow.

So we play a little..






(Oh that sunshine!)






Count a little...






And then I find a quiet corner for us to read...






She likes that... for a few minutes, instructing me where I should sit and what I should read...






But when she once again wants to reach for new books out there on those long, colorful shelves, I decide it's time to move on to our next place -- Paul's coffee shop, which happens to be just across the street. We need pickles for ahah!






She is on her best behavior and is happy as can be to be handed big chunks of cheese croissant.






But you know, there is that sunshine! It just beckons! Snowdrop doesn't yet understand the power of those golden rays, especially as they fall on an hard winter landscape. So full of promise! Yes, maybe, but not now, not on February 2nd when we're still such a long way away from spring (ha! the groundhog today surely tells us so!). Still, she hesitates before coming indoors. Play a little in the snow maybe?





No!

Once in the farmhouse, she sheds her outdoor stuff and runs, really runs to her tea set. No hesitation, no glance elsewhere.  And having secured the participation (for a few minutes at least, before nap time) of gaga and ahah and bis, she is just one happy little girl. Tea party indeed!
















The sun is low now. Cold becomes colder. And still, it all looks so golden and warm! Snowdrop would step out in a second if I were willing.

I open the porch door for her. Feel how cold it is!
She does.
It's cold! -- she tells me.







The sun plays its tricks and we're all happy. I'm happy. But you can't buy spring with it. It's not magic. It's not a promise. It's just a luminous, beautiful sunny day, that's all.