TheBanyanTree: Spring in January

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Because we have four distinct seasons in Minnesota, the weather guides our
behavior.  For example, this is normally our coldest time of year.  We wear
layers of clothes, we bake a lot, we enjoy our fireplaces, and we watch out
for black ice.  The snow is dry snow and doesn’t stick to anything.

But this winter is so different.  We had winter-like weather in December and
then right before Christmas, spring began to hatch out of its egg.  This
January has been downright balmy and will go on record as the warmest
January EVER!  The sun is out, the temps are warm, and we begin to look for
our spring coats and think about spring cleaning our homes.  Wait a minute!
We still have February, March, and yes, April, it’s a winter month in
Minnesota, to get through.  We’re totally confused.

I saw a robin last Saturday when I was bringing Axel to the dog boarding
place.  Very few birds come to my bird feeders.  Why should they?  There is
plenty of food around now that the snow is melting fast.  I saw a large buck
in our backyard the other night trying to shake out the last seeds from the
feeders.  The does usually get to the feeders first.

We had six showings of our house last week and two showings this week.  Our
Sunday night showing stayed in the house for 40 minutes, but we haven’t
heard anything.  This selling thing just drones on and on.  I’m tempted to
foreclose on the house just to get rid of it, but it would destroy my credit
rating, and I wouldn’t be able to buy another house anyway.  We have two
more months to go on our contract.  My last ditch effort will be to talk to
the webuyuglyhouses.com people and sell the house at a loss.  I can’t live
here forever and my stupid white carpet won’t stay white much longer.

This weekend is ours.  No grandchildren, shows, appointments, or anything
really scheduled.  We might go to the Women’s Expo today and check out all
the vendors and the food, but that’s the only thing on our schedule.  Of
course, it’s a good day for a run, in spite of having a mild cold, I should
be able to do OK.  It’s spring!

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a
list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance
the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for
flaws, but for potential.
~Ellen Goodman