It looks as though after tomorrow, the high temperature of each day is to be above freezing. What a change that will make!

The snowdrifts and piles of snow from cleared streets and sidewalks have begun to melt in the warm, spring sunlight. Saturday was the second afternoon, after a very long stretch of cold weather, that I had gotten into the gazebo to use the exercise bike. I am hoping to get out there again today, Sunday, once the other of us gets home from his volunteer shift and shopping.

The drifts over the backyard fences are no longer keeping in/out dogs, cats, or rabbits. They have become highways through the neighborhood for the four-foots. The rabbits cleared a tunnel from the bottom of the snow-covered fence to the place where the gate hangs crooked enough for a path to the top of a snowdrift, bypassing the “rabbit-proof” fencing the backyard neighbors put down. There are now bird, rabbit, and puppy tracks along the tops of the drifts. Our Scampers can now move freely between our back yard, our front yard, and the yard of the next-door dog who hates them with loud passion. If you want to take a look, feel free to bring along your cup of Toddy coffee, but you’d better wear your boots, because the big melt has gotten underway as the Sun is no longer spending its days lingering behind thick clouds.

With the bad weather (another blizzard, this past week), I have not been as active as I would have liked. While the blizzard was moving through, we pretty much slept. The day following, there was snow to remove, so that we could get the car out of the garage…and then an unexpected drift of ice/snow blocks about three feet high covered the foot of the driveway as the city plows went through at high speed. So it took a while to get out and stock up on food. This last trip, it was just a pack of deli chicken for me and a frozen lasagna dinner for Al, plus freeze-dried beef liver and peanut butter cookies for the Scampers. I’ve still got boxed soup, a bag of salad, and lots of fresh and hard-boiled eggs. And five canisters of ground coffee and a pound and a half of black (English Breakfast) tea.

My eyes have been bothering me, this week, and so I have been listening to music and reading books on my tablet with the app set to the largest font size. I am pleased that my photographs revealed what I wanted to capture when I pointed the camera in the right direction. I have been using the 17.6″ laptop, rather than the 10″ or 13″, by preference. We pre-charged our gadgets and backup lithium and other storage batteries, but we never did lose power. Although the 50-60 mph wind gusts shook the ham radio antenna, lines, and cables just the other side of the wall from Al’s recliner chair.

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This week, the book that my sister edited/wrote/compiled (consisting of our parents’ correspondence and accompanying photographs, with commentary and her frameworking thoughts) was delivered by the post office. Many pounds of book. Hardcover with heavy, gloss paper and photos in color. She spoke at the end about what she knew of the last weeks of both our parents’ lives. A little more than three months separated Mother’s death from Father’s.

On Wednesday, there is another family funeral to attend—the father of a nephew’s wife. Death is a part of life. That does not make our deaths—or the lives and deaths of others—unimportant. Here, and then not here, makes a difference.

Thank you for stopping by, this weekend. I appreciate the company, this afternoon, as my husband is out “taking care of business”. I hope that your week has progressed as you would like and that your weekend has provided you with what you need to tackle the week to come.

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

P.S. Don’t forget to visit Eclectic Alli’s Weekend Coffee Share post for this weekend and the Linky button that connects us with one another.