Testing Our Limits

Fleece socks, shoes (not sandals), shoe covers, long cycling pants, shorts with chamois, base layer top, short-sleeved but thick jersey, arm warmers (extra sleeves), jacket, neck warmer, cap, helmet, sunglasses.

Generally I won't ride the bike if it is colder than 50 degrees.  Well, today in Kotzebue, Alaska, it was -35 with a wind chill of -68.  But in Greenwood it was about 42 this morning, after church, so we suited up and took the tandem out for 18 miles.

It was 48 when we got back.  Alan said he was fine and could have ridden in colder weather.   I was dressed appropriately, for me, but pretty well maxed out.  I don't own a wool jersey but I guess I could have put tights under my long cycle pants.

Anyway, it was a clear (if cold) day of blue skies, so later in the afternoon we went to the Yogatorium pond for some fishing.  (Still don't have a pond - or fish - behind the house)  First fish of the year!

Happy Day!

Daffodil Day

Just wanted to say that in my front yard, on the 27th day of January 2012, these two blooms appeared.  Amazing!  Daffodils are my favorite flower because they tell me Spring is Coming.

Winter gardening

Yesterday afternoon we had a few hours of sunshine and warm, with no wind, after several days of damp.  So I seized the moment and went outside to do some gardening.  Pulled some weeds in the front flower bed, but mostly cleaned the leaves and the few weeds from my two garden boxes.  BONUS: uncovered this carrot, only the second I have ever grown, and a hand full of good lettuce leaves (lettuce likes cool weather).  Enjoyed both for dinner last night.  Delicious!  So happy to be outside playing in the dirt.

Generous, thoughtful friends

Recently we received two lovely gifts.  The gorgeous orchid is from our friends and neighbors the Clarkes.  Kelley spent a half hour with us Sunday, letting us talk about Anita, her funeral, and our experience losing her.  Very therapeutic.  What a nice friend.

Our "fittest" friends Steve and Kathleen gave us this birdfeeder - handmade and sent from Durango, Colorado.  Thank you for the terrific surprise and the support of my new affection. 

I've been watching the birds this morning to see which was going to be the leader, the first to try the new feeder.  So far the chickadees and titmouses (titmice?) have only eaten the seeds off the deck below.  I probably won't be watching when they figure it out, that there are seeds in there, just perch and eat.  

I was watching yesterday when the first red cardinal appeared.  I was actually talking on the phone with Alan's mom and had just said, "No, we haven't had any cardinals yet," when he appeared.

Old lady

 I am officially an old lady.

No one thinks of young people as enjoying birds or even having time to watch them.    

Well, I don't care.  I got this bird feeder for Christmas from Alan's parents and I LOVE sitting at my kitchen table in the morning watching the birds eat.

Maybe soon I'll get a field guide and learn to identify my visitors.
God's creation is a marvelous thing.  Even in winter, there is life and beauty.
Today it was only 34 degrees at  10 a.m. Friends, that is COLD for South Carolina.
Maybe I should put out some clean water for these birds too, since we still don't have a pond.

Sympathy

Of all the things people have said, mailed, emailed, text, and messaged us in the last few weeks, I think this email from Alan's boss' boss comes as close to pure sympathy as any of them:

Alan - am so sorry about your sister.  I lost my sister-in-law to colon cancer 10 years ago.  She was 37 at the time.  She was the picture of health...until she wasn't .  She was also a wonderful friend and person.  Cancer sucks.

I said, before I thought about it, something Tuesday night that, upon reflection, is true.  Of course, these "thoughts" often leak out of my mouth before I even think them.

Losing Alan's sister has been even harder than losing my daddy.  He and I were very close and until this, losing him was the hardest thing I have ever been through.  But watching Anita leave us and seeing the effect of this out-of-order loss on Alan, his parents and his grandmother has been worse.  The capacity of the human body to cling to life and the capacity of the human spirit to adjust the heart to the reality of tragic loss is simply amazing.

Anita made different choices about her life, in light of her diagnosis, than I think I might if faced with her situation.  I think there are many things about my life I would change if I had any idea how much longer I would be on this earth.  She chose to change very little.  I think that must mean she was very happy with her life as it was.

She also chose to continue working.  Now that I have seen some of the hundreds of people she touched through her work and the high regard in which she was held by her colleagues, I understand better why continuing to work might have been so important to her.

She was also very different from me in her approach to faith.  In some way that I haven't figured out yet, I think her way might be better.

Although she was my sister-in-law for almost 20 years, we were not yet close friends.  I was looking forward to growing old with her (and Alan of course) - working together to care for our family, traveling, sitting on her porch and watching her grandchildren play in the yard.