Keep at it!

That is what the day is telling us: keep those spring thoughts flowing, because really, tough winter days do not last. I promise you: there will be an end and we will once again be planting seeds for a better world garden.

Today's weather is fabulous! 

A high of 50F (10C) once again, with plenty of sunshine! (There can never be too much sunshine in February.)

I have a breakfast date downtown with my two downtown-living friends. I joke that this is the one day I put aside my sweatpants and put on urban attire. It feels good to take pride in your appearance every now and then and these two have an eye for the aesthetic (I suppose we all do, except it's buried beneath a pile of other preoccupations in some). Our regular meetups are always beautiful in the presentation (and delicious in the execution). And of course there are the urban views. Today I face Lake Monona and John Nolen Drive -- which I take to get downtown, and which is where I always snap the skyline pictures, like this one from this morning:

Breakfast:

Inevitably we talk about The News. But in moderation. We talk, too, about what lies ahead on the micro level: in our own back yards. It is one splendid beginning to a good day.

 

And of course, it's reclaiming the pleasure of being outside that puts it over the top for me: my bike was getting it's annual checkup this week (something that Ed rolls his eyes about, since he cannot understand why I would buy into this "need for annual checkups" -- for my own person or for my e-bike). I called Trek (lovely people work there!) and they promised to get it back to me by noon. 

 

 

 

A few minutes later, Ed and I are on our beloved bike loop. 

The somewhat less hilly one (which normally takes us 40 minutes but today took us, um, 45...).

I keep saying again and again -- this is fabulous!

Because it is.

 

 

There's something about bike riding in the country: you are at once fast and yet you notice every detail. You take in so much! And there is joy in taking note of the melting snow, the puddles, and of course, the bright sky framing our beautiful landscape.

Did I put aside the news stories for the day? Of course not. I had some moments of satisfaction though as I watched people gather in protest against cuts in Medicaid in front of Senator Johnson's office. There's so much cruelty taking place right now that your head spins as you try to understand what's going on. Cuts in Medicaid are especially pernicious because, of course, they cut into benefits for the scared, the  sick, old, the vulnerable. There's something unreal about tipping the balance in this way -- towards siphoning off care for those who need it most. Watching the protest made me remember that people do care. Many people do care. 

 

In the afternoon I pick up the kids. 

I never know what stories they'll bring to the car from the day, but by now I can certainly guess that Sparrow will start with all that went wrong in his day and Snowdrop will do just the opposite. Nonetheless, by the time they we got to the farmette, Sparrow had emptied out his bag of woes and Snowdrop had ran through the details of her exciting projects and all was good again.

The day would have ended radiantly, except that after dropping them off in the evening, I glanced over the car's interior and any other day I would have sighed and moved on, but it was just too much: the car was full of kid messes, crumbs, mud, salt stains, debris, dust. Normally I do a grand spring cleanup -- inside and out -- once the temps are warm enough to work a hose and a powerful vacuum on it, but I just could not stand the horror of it right now, so I brought out the hand vacuum and a bucket of soapy water and set to work. This is the third day in a row where I found some domain of our daily life totally beyond the pale in terms of grime (yesterday it was the dish rack, the day before  -- the shower drain), in need of an overhaul and scrub down. Maybe that is, in fact, the surest sign that spring is here? There are things you can tolerate in the winter, but come spring, your visual sensitivities are on high alert. Soon the lilac will bloom, damn it! Surely I need to clean up accumulated grime in preparation for it!

I'll end with my humble appreciation for this extraordinarily lovely day. I know there will be more in the months ahead. And that makes me very happy.