Peace and love on a dreary day

It's another rainy day--one among many this month.  The ground and fields are so saturated that large chasms have been cut on the dirt lane from sheet flow of water that gushes over the cross drains and ditches.

All of the pastures have standing water.  It's colic season for horses because the temperatures are fluctuating between the low 40's to nearly 70 F tomorrow.  My horse's hoof abscess is long healed, and he is healthy and apparently happy. Sadly, his stablemate had to be put down due to severe cellulitis.  The loss of this beautiful animal has had all of us out of sorts, sad and concerned.  His owner has taken this very hard.  I doubt if she will get over this any time soon, if ever.  I am reminded that these large animals who have such power are really such fragile creatures.

When I ventured out in the yard this morning, I saw a few signs of Spring.  Some brave daffodils are blooming, as are the forsythia and camellias.

But most of the beautifully landscaped yard is brown and the plants look forlorn. I know that soon enough budding and regrowth will occur.  But today I am staying close to the fire and warmth of the house.  I had wanted to get to the garden to put in some more seeds.  With the rain pouring down, it seems unlikely that will happen today.

Tomorrow C. and I are going to a concert.  This is the first one in a long time.  I am sure that there will be a lot of middle aged folks like us there.  The band is Pink Floyd Experience.  We both wish that we had seen the original Floyd back in the day but since that didn't happen, we are going to see this tribute band that is supposed to be quite good.

I have some particularly interesting memories of rock concerts.  Some were fairly tame while others such as a particularly raucous one at American University in DC, were drug and drunk fests.  I was too young for Woodstock but this had to be a microcosm of what happened there.  Aside from smoking some weed on occasion, I wasn't into drugs or alcohol.  A young woman standing next to me, freaked out on acid, had to be carried out.

I wonder what happened to all those hippies.  Are they still going to rock concerts? Are they old addicts/alcoholics or working on Wall Street?  Do they still care about peace and love? A lot of idealism was part of our culture then.  I prefer that to the blatant hatred that seems to be the overriding sentiment among so many today.

Anyway,  time for me to get back to reading and maybe taking a nap.  I think watching the fire is going to be a good way to spend this dreary afternoon.

This Thursday Morning

I am sitting in a waiting room at a local eye institute where my wife is having eye surgery this morning.  She has a congenital cataract and decided it was time to have the surgery done. 

The big bridge has been closed for a couple of days due to ice. The most recent storm was not as bad for us as the previous one, but it was much worse for neighboring counties. Ice has brought down trees and limbs, blowing transformers, and causing thousands of power outages. 

So we were on our way this morning early to get to surgery. I am no longer a morning person, as if I ever were! I stay up until midnight and almost feel drugged when I get up at 5 AM. I am thinking that a nap in front of the fire will be good later. In the meantime, C. will have an eye patch for a day.  Kind of sexy in a swashbuckling way.

I met with the fellow I used to sponsor. We had a great talk and came away with good feelings. We both acknowledged our part and then moved on to have a lot of laughs. Amazing how I have learned to not take things personally and don't have to be right or justify something I've done.

Life is good. The coming week is supposed to be warmer. It has been cold and rainy. Progress will continue on the backyard landscaping next week. And I know the birds will be happy with new plants. Meanwhile, the male cardinals continue to slam themselves against windows when they see their reflection. So far no knockouts, but mating season is definitely causing some ruffled feathers. 

Hope all of you are hanging in there with the cold weather.  Stay warm!