She, apparently, had a leisurely drive home from West Virginia and has found time to blog some about our week there. And insists that we all do the same. Tonight.
Laura thumbs her nose at Susan again.
My trip home involved two car rides, three airports, one really slow shuttle bus and a couple too many hours in the Cincinnati airport.
All’s well that ends well, but I’m exhausted after thirteen plus hours getting here and anything more than a tired smile will have to wait until tomorrow.
There’s no direct way to get to West Virginia, I don’t think. Or at least the major airlines would have you believe as much. Because I imagine myself to be an adventurous soul (and because it amuses my friends so much) I’ve taken a rather circuitous route to the New River Birding and Nature Festival.
Buying my tickets online, I realized I couldn’t fly directly here, instead there’d have to be some third city involved in my arrival. The fun was in choosing which city I’d fly into… Cincinnati, D.C., Charleston, Detroit… and from which, I’d wander my way to the New River Gorge in W. Virginia.
So today there’s just this sweet sunset from somewhere along the way.
Peter laughed happily. “They are my gold!” cried he. “See how they shine! And they are full of golden meaning, for now I know that truly Mistress Spring is here to stay. I hoped I would find the very first one, and I guess I have.” Once more Peter Rabbit kicked up his heels for pure joy. –Thornton B. Burgess, The Burgess Flower Book for Children (1923)
Glass art on display at Hot Sand on the boardwalk at Asbury Park
I often have to walk off the workday on Tuesday. Tuesdays feel something like setting up your desk for the day on a subway platform in Manhattan; at midday I tried a few laps around the building in an effort to get my head straight… it didn’t help much, unfortunately. The end of every month tends to be crunch-time for me anyway, but whisper the word vacation and any facade of controlled chaos just falls away.
It feels almost wrong to vent about it here, but the first round of *bumping* that I’d mentioned in this post will take effect on the first of May. Sadly, a social worker with 24 years experience in my unit will be bumped to a downgraded position in another agency. We’ll have to train the person that’s taking her job, and a couple of us are consoling ourselves with thoughts of how we might best do that.
*insert evil grin*
She’s a nice-enough lady, but it’s been decades since she’s been expected to have any real client contact. People in my profession get promoted so they won’t have to deal with clients anymore, sort of like school teachers becoming administrators so they won’t be expected to actually teach. I imagine she’ll adjust soon enough, or maybe just retire a bit sooner than anticipated, but picture someone straight out of a Little House on the Prairie episode walking the streets of the South Bronx. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you need thick skin to do this job well and you also need to project a bit of an edge when you’re out there with clients and I have a hard time seeing anyone doing that in a twin-set and pearls and kitten heels. It should be amusing to watch, at least.
I’m working late more often the last couple months and today’s rain had turned to sun and then back to thick fog and drizzle by the time I found myself walking the boardwalk early this evening. The bit of color on display there was a welcome distraction from an otherwise dreary sort of day.
Luka was all smiles at the dog park this afternoon. Most every time we go, there’s a new pack of dogs to play with…
Today there were lots of smallish dogs, including at least half a dozen look-alike black pugs, one of which tried to take Luka’s nose off. This little yorkie (?) was a sweetheart though.
There were a couple really big dogs, which are my favorites, though I’d hate to have to feed them. Look at this monster with the sweetest of faces!
Luka took to this dobie today and followed her everywhere… mainly because he really wanted that rope toy she’s teasing him with.
Is there a dog park in your neighborhood? Can you mention it within earshot of your dog without having to take them for a visit?
Books say improbable things about Bloodroot like that it blooms in colonies and that its seeds are spread around the forest by ants.
If the ants were doing their job, Bloodroot would be easier to find. The woods would be carpeted with it, like they are with Spring Beauties and Squill, now.
As it is, I have to get my knees muddy searching for it. If the forest faeries are feeling a need for amusement, they’ll send a couple teenagers along the path to find me butt-up and nose-down in the shady leaf mold.
Pride and decorum be damned, there’s only so many spring days to find Bloodroot. I’m glad to have enjoyed it for another year.
I feasted on some familiar delights today… daffs and crocus and forsythia, a beginner’s yoga class that left me feeling competent for a change (!), a longish walk with Luka past the neighborhood raspberry fields with their huge clump of purple hyacinths blooming right in the middle, the soft fur on Boomer’s cheek with his big ears drooping to meet my fingers, the local osprey pair rebuilding their cell tower nest after it was removed this past winter, newly arrived great egrets stalking the creek at low-tide… all brought a comfortable smile to my face.
“April can be lovely, spangled with bloom and the newest of young leaves. It can be, and usually is, melodied with the voice of song sparrow and robin, redwing and oriole. And the call of the Spring peeper is the very voice of April. But April can also be cold rain, raw wind and, on occasion, snow. The cruelest aspect of April’s tantrums, however, lies in the way it sometimes frosts our hopes and expectations. We want to believe in that myth of gentle April. We want May in April. We are tired of Winter’s cold leftovers. Given a taste of Spring in April, we want a full meal of it.” –Hal Borland
Today was a lovely taste of Spring on an early April day.
Just me rambling about birds, books, bunnies, or whatever!
Susan took this snarky pic of me last night during the last couple moments of the New River Birding and Nature Festival and I wondered where I’d find a use for it.
