Karen's Journey

Disclaimer: This photo was taken in early March. But, it did snow today. And Monday. And Tuesday. Where we live, late April snow is not unusual. However, I think we're grumpier than normal about it since we actually set a record for the least amount of snowfall ever for a winter here, and up until now, we were about three to four weeks ahead of schedule for all things blooming. We even hit 90 degrees one day recently -- the earliest in the year we've ever had a 90 degree day! And now Mother Nature has laughed in our faces and plunged us back into the days of snow and cold that we thought we were long behind us for the year. April is truly the cruelest month. The two tulips the deer and/or rabbits left us want to bloom, but remain tucked up tightly against the weather. I hope the critters don't get them too before they open. T wants to play outside and he most definitely does not want to have to wear his boots. I thought I'd traded in my boots for Birks too. Brrrr.

This appeared on someone's Facebook page. I've been trying really hard to stay out of the FB political fray, since I'm so easily baited. But this one I can't let pass. I believe that shared prosperity has paved our roads, built our bridges, put us on the moon, educates our children, educated us , built our interstate highway system, prevents old people from freezing to death in the winter, provides medical and psychiatric care for our veterans, keeps children from dying of starvation, and puts a roof over the heads of those who are disabled and can no longer work. I believe it protects our country from being attacked, puts out fires, comes to the aid of accident victims, keeps our homes and our places of work safe, and puts books in libraries where everyone has access to them. I believe it ensures clean water, has installed sewer systems so we no longer have to fling human waste into the streets, built the infrastructure for electricity to be delivered to our homes

Claudia at  My Fascinating Life  wants to know what's working in our lives. I've been pondering this for several weeks now. A lot of things are not working the way they should be. My resolve to exercise more has been thwarted first by getting my period every other week over the course of five weeks -- the HRT pills were NOT working -- and then a recalcitrant and painful case of the shingles in my hip, which means no running or biking. This of course means my resolve to lose weight is not working either -- and doesn't bode well for an early triathlon attempt. My one word for this year "declutter" is not working out at all as I'd hoped. I started with the kitchen table. I get it decluttered. Two days later....back to square one. Not being able to recycle the hundreds of papers that come home from kindergarten when a certain child is around to see what is going on doesn't help. But this is supposed to be a posting about what is working. So here goes: Tim

Due to family circumstances, I didn't get a chance to list my Holy Week Facebook daily postings on what the Bible has to say about our duty to serve the poor. I ended with what I consider the verse that most spells out what Jesus wanted us to do. Not WWJD but WWJWUTD (what would Jesus want us to do). I don't think scripture gets any clearer than this one. And I find the first half so uplifting. When you helped the hungry, the sick, the naked, or the imprisoned, you helped me. This is the Christianity I can embrace. This is the Christianity that this agnostic can point to and say, "This is how I want to live my life. This is right. This is true." Not the Christianity that oppresses women and gays, not the Christianity that denies science, not the Christianity that teaches people to judge and condemn. But the Christianity that says "You are commanded to relieve suffering." A great man named Jesus once walked this earth and relieved suffering wherever he we

This tiny little beauty pokes her little head up right next to the garage foundation every spring. She usually beats the daffodils, but this year they beat her. I have no idea what type of flower she is, but she has so often been my first harbinger of spring, bringing joy to my heart that winter is on its way out. Her location is rather odd; I think maybe she survived the construction of the garage, which would account for the fact that she pops up out of the ground a mere inch or two away. I'm not sure I could transplant her to a prettier location -- I think I might destroy the bulb trying to dig it up. But at any rate, I would like to know what type of flower she is. So anyone who can help, please let me know!

We never see our daffodils until after Easter. Ever. Until this year. We had a spell of 80-plus degree weather back in March, so out they came. Now that it's April, we're back down into below freezing temps during the overnights, but they're gamely holding on. Tulips are not far behind. We never see our tulips before May. What a year.