Care and Feeding

Here on the east coast the Spring weather is still eluding us. Spring came in with a Northeaster, dropping snowflakes the size of cornflakes on the Virginia mountains, and giving the Boston school children another day off to play.

Spring snows are the Hipsters of weather...ironic, n'est pas? At some level they are delightfully surprising. Don't mind my grumbling as I don, once again, coat, hat and wooly scarf to head over for morning coffee...it's March in the mid Atlantic; the now and not yet for meteorologists. Never fear weary one, SPRING will come with no turning back.

Perhaps my fig "tree", the tiny stick of a thing from last year, presents a good metaphor for this time. You see, though it looks lean, it is ALIVE though there's not much but hope to it right now. It's a reminder that a great flurry of activity and growth is coming...it's just around the corner.

But how to manage the emotions of now and not yet, of weariness over the cold, of distant hope still unfulfilled? That famous line of Elisabeth Elliot's comes to mind....DO the next thing! 

Get busy doing some care and feeding, some prepping, some clearing out and some lining up, for assessing and figuring out how to do the next thing well. 

Perhaps that's why Spring cleaning once was a thing everyone did... (it probably still should be, at least at my house). It's time to stop hoping and start DOING.

Taking care to create good personal spaces is part of my work, my doing for this week. With an entirely new area on my rooftop deck to turn into a haven of quiet rest, my mind is clicking with ideas. I spent some time daydreaming about textures, colors and the moods they evoke. 

What a luxury to actually have a space to work in, to create in. People seem determined to do this no matter how small the space. I look forward to sharing it as a place where others feel cared for, listened to, encouraged. A place for quiet reading, or for a pleasant glass of wine on a balmy evening. It's a tiny oasis above the busy streets and train tracks below. Though now it is a jumble of stacked seats, pushed back to the wall to keep things from blowing away, soon it will be my favorite spot.

But so much for dreaming!! The other MUST DO part of my "doing" today is to finally start the plans for the Spring Workshop season, a chance to give eager creators some new "toys" to play with, and some new friends to enjoy. This winter couch potato is finally getting back to work! I hope you'll be part of the fun!

So enjoy the chill before the frenzy of spring and get some care and feeding done at your house!

See you soon in the warm sunshine!