Signs of spring

There are some signs of spring now.  I have heard the spring peepers for several nights in a row.  The daffodils are coming up, and there are buds on some of the trees.  The raccoons have been mating like banshees in one of the large trees near the wetland.  I suspect that I will see little ones in time.

This has been a chilly winter, but I can't complain because there hasn't been piles of snow or blizzards or even a significant ice storm.  Just windy and chilly.  I am hoping that we at least have turned the corner on winter.  My cold frames are filled with plants for spring.  I am looking forward to getting into the garden and tilling up the raised beds, turning over the soil. 

I am working on a couple of small grant proposals that deal with cleaning up waterways and recycling at marinas here.  I see how many aluminum cans and bottles are thrown away at the marina where my boat is.  Not a single recycling container in sight.  I have talked to management about it but get the same tired answer--too much trouble, too much money.  Anyway, it is worth a shot to write a grant to at least post signs that encourage people to remove their recycled materials and not throw them in with the other trash.

I went to my home group meeting last night.  It was a step study on coming to believe that a power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.  What a revelation it was for me to realize that there was a power greater than me.  I thought that I had all the answers, could solve things through sheer will power and determination.  It was a great relief to not have to try to solve the problems of others or to try to turn them into who I wanted them to be.  I wonder sometimes why I didn't realize much earlier that by doing the same things over and over and expecting different results, I was getting no where.  I was simply digging myself deeper into anxiety and despair (=insanity).

Ego is such a driver in so many ways.  It plays tricks with me, making me think that all is well and that I am in control.  So many times that has been proven to not be the case.  Yet, today with the sun shining and the buds on the trees,  I feel ready to meet the challenges of the day.  I simply remind myself that I can only change the things that I can and accept that there is much beyond my control.