it's okay that spring is late

Did I really just say that?

In all of our longing for warm sunny days, and green, and color in our lives, we tend to forget what else the new season brings.

*  Cleaning out the flower beds.  Yes, it's fun to find little green things coming to life, and seeing the worms wind their way through the soil (sorry Tracy), and smell the earth.  But in my case, it's a LOT of work.  And my back doesn't let me work too hard  for very long.  So that makes a project that I used to be able to do in one day, take one month.  I realize this one is my own problem, I could let the gardens go back to grass.  But the people who specifically walk by my yard to check things out would be sad.

*  More things to sweep.  In the winter, it's just basic everyday floor junk.  Now, it's stuff that is tracked in from everywhere, as well as keeping the steps, sidewalks, and patios swept.  Ugh.  Have I mentioned I live on a corner?

*  More laundry to wash.  In the winter, we huddle in our polar fleece and wool, and rarely work up a sweat doing anything.  Today alone I had two full changes of clothes due to gardening.  And I can't even explain washing dirt bike clothes.

*  A dirtier house.  Daily, they 'groom' the baseball field across the street from our house.  And the dust from that special dirt nearly always seems to find it's way through my window screens.  Why do I even bother washing my windows?

* Noisy people.  In the winter, our house is sealed up and people scurry from place to place, afraid to talk much while they are outside or their throats may freeze shut.  It's very quiet, and the snow muffles sound.  Now that our windows are open at night, we hear every motorcycle, loud bass, and garbage truck that goes by. Not to mention the damn birds that start singing at 4:30 am, on the dot.  (at first I loved them, now they are just annoying....)

* Whinier animals.  Claude knows it's nice out, and now everyday he cries by the door to go outside.  He is VERY persistent, and way too old to be let outside.  (I am nice and take him out every now and then, but I have to be by his side the whole time so he doesn't go on another adventure....)

* Too many fun options.  This weekend, shall I go to rummage sales?  Plant sales?  The Shepherd's Festival?  The Festival of Nations?  Farmer's Market? A picnic by the river?  A trip to Stockholm, Wisconsin?  And soon, weddings and graduation parties.  To think of all the winter weekends where I had to find things to do.

*  Too many precautions.  While it can be a pain to pull on boots and find a matching pair of gloves to keep away the winter chill, now we will have to start thinking about sunscreen, and bug spray, and trying to remember the last time we shaved our legs.  And our toes will need extra attention if we plan to wear sandals.

See?  Winter doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

Whomever called them the lazy, hazy days of summer must have been a man.