the angry mile

Today began with tears and ended with tears, with plenty in between. The tears weren't mine but they could have been. This time of year is always hard for me. The change from winter to spring never happens gracefully. I should know this. I should be ready for what comes after the layers of clean white melt away. I should know that there will be mud, someone's old sock, a towel left by the sandbox and muddy tennis balls all over the yard. It's just that I had forgotten all that in the perfect cleanliness of winter.

We've had one sort of sickness or another for the last month. Nothing terrible, nothing unusual, just something. Enough things. Our noses are raw, our throats still a bit sore and our emotions fragile. And today, with Madison and earthquakes and tsunamis and powerlines on my mind there seemed to be a sadness (maybe an anger) that I couldn't shake.

Iris and I battled over things that I should have been grown-up enough to leave alone. Finally by late afternoon I ungracefully left the house for the "anger mile". (That's where I huff and puff up and down the road until I feel better- it usually works).

Yes, change is hard. It doesn't always go our way. Life is big and scary. But spring is on its way, for better or worse. The sap is flowing, the spinach is growing. The gate is open, I better get ready for the ride.

Here's to a week of moving forward with acceptance and poise.