Food, friends and flowers -- spring is coming

The daffodils I've planted for the last two years around the property are coming up, even though we're returning to a taste of winter this week. Almond blossoms, though, have mostly flown with the strong winds we had this weekend. Spring is a mere three weeks away.

Once again -- still -- I am awed by the swift passage of time. Those warm 100-degree days don't seem that long ago, and their return will come too quickly. I want to slow down a little! I want to savor the Irishly-green grass that colors the hills again since the rains. I want to drive down the road through blooming orchards, admire the sweeps of daffodils and jonquils on landscaped lawns. Sniff the aromatic softness in the air that is spring -- earthy, green, sweet scents. It goes by so quickly. This will be the fifth spring we've lived here; the sixth since we first came to Red Bluff. Wow.

We enjoyed a group of friends this last weekend, attending the Rotary Crab Feed where we ate prodigious amounts of those crusty-lucious critters, and again last night at an impromptu birthday party where we laughed so hard our stomachs ached and again ate well. I think life's best times are around a dinner table with friends or family when you're enjoying conversation, good food, feeling warm and cared for. These are truly those "Hallmark" moments! I listened to different conversations and watched animated faces softened by the candlelight, and felt well and truly blessed.

We came here because we wanted a better quality of life than we'd had working in the Bay area. We envisioned our home, having a circle of friends, being self-employed, spending every day with each other instead of just a daily few hours and weekends. And we have it all. (Okay, so maybe the self-employment dollars could be better... but we're also working on that.) That's asking for what you want, setting intention, and working on it. It's "The Secret."

Thanks be. Blessed be.