I THOUGHT IT WAS SPRING!

Remember the old Burma Shave signs? One especially comes to my mind every spring: "Spring has sprung, the grass has riz where last years reckless driver is." It felt like spring here last week with a couple days in the 70's. James and I did some work in the yard. I had missed some of the tulip bulbs last fall and they were coming up under the ground cloth I had put down on the bed by the front porch so I had to pull it back, after first removing the rock on top of it, then James took them up with the spade and put them in the long flower bed along the alley. I hope they "take" where they are now, especially since the temperature dropped back into the freezing zone again. My daffodils are in bloom and my pussywillow has many pussies on it. My mums are showing green, the winter onions and rhubarb plants are up, the day lillies and iris are poking green points up through the ground. I had a pair of birds trying to make a nest in the exhaust pipe from the downstairs bath. James had to finally go up the ladder and put some screen cloth behind the louvers and then they fussed because they couldn't get in! We went down to Paul's for Jordan's 16th birthday last weekend and on the way I saw a church sign that I like better than the Burma Shave: "The birds are back and the grass is greening. GOD DID IT AGAIN!!" Isn't He wonderful!! I love spring. It spells HOPE to me especially after this last long difficult year. Take time to enjoy this beautiful world God has given us to live in.

THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

For over 36 years I rarely had to face it, that dark at the top of the stairs. David was a morning person while I was a night owl so most nights he went up to bed before me and would leave the hall light on for me. The only times when he didn't was when he was at camp, camp-outs, men's meetings , etc. and of course those six weeks when he made that first trip to Russia. I never rested easy when he was gone and I missed that light. I try to remember to go up early before it gets completely dark out and turn on the upper hall light on but many times I will be involved in something and forget so I have gotten so I can climb the stairs in the dark because some light does come in the windows from the street lights nearby. Worse than the lack of the light is the lack of his presence when I get there. This house is so empty and lonely without David.

ANOTHER EMPTY SPOT

One of the ways David and I used to unwind was to play a computer game. Besides solitaire a favorite was Jezz Ball and it was a mild competition between us trying to knock each other off the score board. We were pretty even though I did hold the record for the highest score. It takes concentration, patience and good hand/eye coordination. It is easy to get lost in it. I have played it often in the last few months. Last week it did me in. I was playing it and ran up a pretty high score and didn't realize the significance until the score board came up, then I just sat there and cried for a while. My high score had wiped David's name off the high score list so that my name was now the only one on it. One more place that screams out at me that I am now alone. Little things can trip you up! Lord help me.

FLANNEL TENTS

Sitting on the edge of my bed on one of the cold COLD nights of the last couple of months shivering as I got ready for bed made me remember similar times as a child. Looking back it seems that most of the houses I have lived in (this is number 50 to date) did not have central heating. Those old houses didn't have insulation either. The main source of heat, usually a wood, coal or oil heater, was on the main floor and the second floor was barely above freezing so we didn't linger in our bedrooms before getting beneath the covers, as many as we could pile on and on really cold nights we would add "Old Joe" (Dads tanned horsehide of one of his favorite horses) as the top layer. The trick was to get out of our clothes and into our nightgown as quickly as we could without feeling as though we were freezing. Mom made our nightgowns and they were huge. I think she used a full width piece of outing flannel ( it came n 36 inch widths then) for the front and the back. Deep hems allowed for lengthening and shortening to fit the current wearer. Maybe they just seemed huge to me being the youngest and wearing mostly hand-me-downs from my older sisters and cousins. Anyway they were big enough that Fannie and I got pretty good at using them as flannel tents. By pullling them over us but not down around our necks we had enough room to remove our day clothes before pulling them rest of the way down and putting our arms through the sleeves thereby retaining our body heat as we climbed quickly under the covers. Mom didn't have to worry about us coming uncovered in the night, especially if "Old Joe" was on the bed, because under all those covers we were so weighted down we could hardly move! My source of heat is a floor furnace on the main floor and I can close off the upstairs during the day to conserve heat so my bedroom got kind of chilly on those zero degree days and nights in January and February. Bless the person who invented heated mattress pads or I would have been wishing for "Old Joe" on my bed again! I was able to sleep in a nice warm bed. Memories are brought back by little things. Fannie, do you still have "Old Joe"? I remember Peggy screaming when she discovered it in one of the upstairs closets when we were clearing out the folks house when they went into the nursing home. Dan wanted it and became the proud possessor of "Old Joe". That was all a good many years ago! Love and God bless and keep you!