Musings & Threads. Early Spring Has it All.

May 12

May 12 Musings & Threads. Early Spring Has it All.

Life Ramblings, Musings & Threads, Angela Rieck

Hope.

Early spring has it all.
The landscape is shaking off its winter doldrums. Bright green shoots are appearing on seemingly dead shrub branches. The trees cast a light green or red tint, letting us know that large expansive leaves are growing inside of them. The grass has turned a bright green and evergreens are getting their color.

But what this season offers the most is hope. This is the going to be the year.

As I fill my bird feeders, I am convinced that this is going to be the year that I get something other than brown birds, black birds or squirrels. I am not asking for much, just a cardinal or two, or a blue jay or a house finch. I am not even asking for goldfinches or woodpeckers, just a change of pace. This is going to be the year. I fill my feeders with sunflower seeds, Nyger seeds, mealworms and a sugar solution for my hummingbirds.

This is going to be the year that my gooseneck loosestrife remains contained, this is going to be the year that my Astilbe blooms like it did in NJ. This is going to be the year that my nonstop roses really are nonstop.

All around me is hope, the daffodils provide bright yellow color when the sun is hidden by clouds. Multi-colored tulips stand upright saluting spring. Flowering cherry and pear trees provide soft, pastel pink and white clouds against the sky. My Helleborus has bushes of flowers.

Yes, this is the year, we’ll get rain at just the right time, the coffee grounds will work and I will have blue Hydrangeas. The crab grass will refuse to germinate.

I can feel the hope and promise in the cool air as I happily weed, fertilize, remove debris and mulch my garden. But then I hear the unmistakable caw-caw sounds overhead, I look up to see blackbirds circling my house.

I go inside. I am not ready to give up on hope just yet.

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Angela Rieck

I WAS an executive of a large insurance company, a Ph.D. in Mathematical Psychology (go Terps!), a mother, a wife, a community leader, a volunteer, an animal rescuer, a friend and a philosopher. I used to be funny, smart, with a keen eye for the absurdities of life. But now I feel defined by what I have lost, my career, my husband (who died from cancer August 2015), my 35+ year life in Morristown, NJ, possessions (stolen), volunteer work, two of my beloved dogs, my parents, friends, but most of all, my purpose. What remains is an amazing 25 year old daughter and the daunting task of creating a new life. I am fortunate enough to spend time in Key West, FL and St. Michaels MD. While trying to understand these 2½ years of loss, I started to chronicle my feelings, thoughts and philosophies. I wrote to communicate, to understand, to reflect, to find a direction. People who read my posts said, “you are a writer,” so I am grasping onto this skill to find where it takes me. I am grateful for what remains, my daughter, my family, my friends, my husband’s family…and I will keep my promise to my husband to build on what is left. Thank you for allowing me to share this journey with you.