It is safe to say, that generally, when I am not in “Blog”
mode, it is because I am happily involved in “Full-Time Life” mode and that was
particularly true this month of March.
This writing finds me in the midst of “Triple Whammy Joy”. On March the 4th my middle
daughter returned safe and sound, in body and mind from another tour in
Afghanistan! Thank you God, thank
you God! So, early March was
filled with the unbridled joy of having her back home and laughing and
delighting us with her presence again.
Birds, bugs and butterflies have abounded but I have been too busy
rejoicing and “killing the fatted lamb” to have actually written about them.
The second, over-the-top, joy event, followed a week later
with the arrival of my oldest daughter and her family. It was the first visit of our
grandchildren here and it couldn’t have been more perfect. The weather was in
the low 70’s, the sun was shining, the omnipresent deer were visiting the front
yard and the Longhorn, which appear in Spring then disappear for the remainder
of the year, timed their arrival with my grandchildren’s arrival. This caused every meal to be
interrupted by me yanking a child out of their chair and carrying them down the
bottom of the hill so as not to miss a single sighting. 
We took then tubing on the Comal River,
canoeing on the Guadalupe and catching tadpoles on the Cibolo Creek.
Texas looked like a grand state to live
in indeed; at least in March and especially when you are winter-weary coming
from Maine. I was so sad to
see them go, for now, who will tend the fairy houses they made?
However, a third happy event is on its way, the arrival of
my youngest daughter for Easter and a grand reunion with her sister. Of course we want to do everything that
went over so well with all the others, so: saddle up your horses, take out your
tubes for the river then head to the nearby Natural Bridge Caverns which really
lived up to its name of one of the most “decorated” caverns around. We have been to many a cave in our day,
but this one, was reminiscent of a Rococo cathedral, not a single space left
“undecorated”: stalactites,
stalagmites, flow stones, “fried eggs”, fairy castles and much of it
sparkling,(of course, EVERYTHING sparkles in TX, even the caves!) with calcium
calcite which made it all pretty breathtaking. So, let the “triple whammy joy” continue!
Ah, but will there be time to write about it, even when
everyone has gone back to their own homes? Hardly, for today I went back to Wildlife Rescue to work and
in the last two weeks their baby opossums went from 18 to 57!
The “Outdoor Classroom” is in
full swing at the nature center that I volunteer at, and there is still so much
yard work to do. All those cute little plants that were so easy to buy but now
will take dynamite to plant, to say nothing of the vegetable garden that is
supposed to be in by mid-March!
So, if there is a paucity of blogging going on in the near future, you
will know why.
Meanwhile, I have seen one, and only one, Monarch that has
come safely over the border from Mexico and is winging its way north. Pipevine
swallowtails are omnipresent and the many insects that covered the patio last
year continue to be a no-show, so my learning curve of “what appears when”
continues to curve out of my reach.
The
hummingbirds just returned yesterday and found the sugar water waiting for them
and the Pine Siskins STILL haven’t left, though I remind them daily that it’s a
long way to their nesting grounds in Canada. So far, they have refused to take the hint. And the bluebonnets popped up almost
the moment my daughter’s plane lifted off for Maine, of course.
Well, Happy Spring to you all, many of you weary of
snowstorm after snowstorm. Wishing you all a Blessed Easter and the ultimate
joy it brings, that “Get out of Jail Free” card for us all! I began this blog saying thank you God,
and may I finish with the same sentiment- Thank you God for a life that has joy
and has it in abundance!
