To help get our minds off these beastly winter days, we should start thinking forward to what our plans are for the Spring and Summer months ahead. Just think, only six months from now it will be July 17th and likely we will be truly at the height of enjoying the early mornings and extended daylight evenings.
There is an interesting happening at my office every year in and around this time. When the sun in its slow climb to the North and is finally able to shine in one of the windows at the rear of my office building, I know that winter is not over, but the sun will be doing its work in melting the snow more quickly. Today was an example. We were being pounded by a snow storm this morning, and then we found the afternoon sun melting the snow on the streets and sidewalks. During these sunshine hours, I could tell people were in much better moods. I had a meeting with a dear client today, and in our conversation about the elderly and how they sometimes become the “invisibles” of our society, I was telling her some of the euphemistic sayings my dear grandmother was quick to interject within a conversation. My client said, “You should have written them down so I could read them and laugh too.” I shared just a few of them with her and she started laughing. I told her that if someone would ever get me started in remembering all of my grandmother’s anecdotal remarks, I would likely have everyone in stitches.
I speak about this today because I think we all have to laugh more during some of our tedious winter days. It helps to lighten our spirits and our burdens don’t seem so heavy. One of my sisters just returned to her tropical home after a very short visit to Mason City and she most certainly had me laughing far more than normal. I consider her my “earth” sister. With her, it’s all about natural, artistic, and indeed original. She has a hard-coded eye for beauty—especially when it comes to fabrics. When I went to visit her some years ago, she had terracotta pots of every different shape or size in and outside her home that contained some of the most exotic plants I’ve ever seen. She said to me during her visit, “I need to find a terracotta pot to put the plant in that I brought you.” I replied, “I have enough to choose from, so take your pick.”
I could never imagine her re-potting one of her many favorite plants in anything else but a naturally fired terracotta pot. Both she and I believe that plants are happier when growing in a natural container. I can’t wait to see more terracotta flower pots around our city this Summer.
