April Showers

Our April Showers are darned cold this morning. My outside temperature reading is 37.5F and there is a bit of wind out of the NW. It isn't raining hard - just light showers from time to time, and there is an unmistakable chill that lets us know it isn't shorts and flip-flop time just yet.

Our summer residents will be coming back soon. Cyndi and Ray Rouleau are already back, and it's very nice to see activity again at their house. People along our West Shore Road are busy clearing away winter debris from lawns and driveways. Recent road work left a berm of gravel and dirt along our road that is troublesome, but probably a small price to pay for having the road passable all spring and no serious mud to deal with. I found it quite remarkable that our road was so good this spring. There are still slimy spots where the frost isn't quite out yet, but nobody has been hopelessly mired or had to leave their vehicles and walk home - nothing like that this year!

I had a call yesterday from Shelly Walker, next-door neighbor to Ned and Carolyn Hamilton. Shelly told me she had just talked with Ned's brother, Doug (Channel Drive), and they want to let people know that Carolyn was recently hospitalized (in Florida) and is in the ICU, quite seriously ill. Carolyn is progressing and doing well, but she may have a long recovery period ahead and their usual trip north may be a bit delayed this year. I was very sorry to hear she's had such a rough time - and I'm sure this has taken a toll on Ned, too.  I'm sure they would appreciate knowing that their many friends here are thinking of them. If you'd like to send a card or note, their address in Florida is: 8151 Green Mountain Rd., Boynton Beach, FL 33473. 

As I finish off this entry, our rain showers have turned to snow showers - big floaty white flakes slanting down from the northwest and melting as soon as they hit the ground - for now. If the temperature goes down just a bit, some of those flakes may remain for a while. It's too wet, cold, and miserable to do anything outside, but I have a really good book to read. My friend and neighbor, Rebecca Wallick, author of Growing Up Boeing, has just published another book, Wild Running. She was kind enough to bring me a copy last week. It's about her life running with her beloved malamute dogs. Her running career has taken her to interesting and beautiful spots all over the country and in a variety of other countries over the years. She is now retired and lives in Vermont where she writes  and still runs or walks regularly with her dogs. This book is about her competitive running days and chronicles her life, running both competitively and for her personal enjoyment and well-being with her dogs. She has a close bond with her dogs, nature, and her environment, and writes about it in a lovely way that sort of envelops the reader into almost being there with her. I've laughed and cried - and I'm only about half way through the book.  I've been stealing moments in between other commitments to read a few pages at a time, but today will be a good opportunity to take some dedicated time to finish it.

I do expect Jamie sometime today. My phone died yesterday, so of course I took it to Jamie last night, thinking I probably needed a new battery - or a new phone. He thinks it's a problem with my charger, so he will stop by and check it out. It's a good thing he lives close by. There have been numerous times when he has rescued me because my TV died right at news time in the evening, my computer froze up first thing in the morning, or some other gadget failed at some inconvenient time. Usually it's not the gadget but the user that's "failed." I admit I'm pretty clutzy when it comes to all this new-fangled stuff, and I'm forever thankful Jamie is close by and always "on call." Oddly, I don't miss the cell phone that much. I sure miss my computer when it fails because I've done something foolish, though! 

Have a great weekend, stay safe and happy.