It's the First Day of Spring--Somewhere

Surely not here.  Oh, the calendar says "First Day of Spring" right there at the bottom of the day box, bold as brass, but outside it sure doesn't look spring-y.  It didn't really snow again, although it tried (tiny flakes were blowing on the wind just before dark), the streets are bare again, but the overcast is nearly total and I don't hold out a lot of hope for a sunny day.  Although one of the weather guessers did say last night that today should be sunny.  I don't know, it doesn't look promising, and we're going to a funeral of one of the dive guys today.  *sigh*

He's been ill for a long time but you always like to hope that a miracle will happen and our old pal DC will come bopping into the store ready to teach another person how to scuba dive and to spread around a little of his boundless enthusiasm for infecting one more diver with the passion he savored.  He loved to teach diving, loved seeing the light dawn when his student got it, and be just as eager to get wet as he always was.  He was also a Marine who served two or three tours in Vietnam, and had the scars and medals to prove it.  My heart hurts today and the world lost one of its heroes.  Semper fi, Dave, you were one of the great ones.

On a cheerier note, I've got a reservation for a two-night stay at a motel in Door County this weekend.  I'll be packing my sewing machine and that Blocks of Chaos quilt sandwich I made not too long ago so that my pal, TCK, can help me fix it and then start sewing it together.  I have come to realize that quilting is a bit more challenging to fudge than sewing a tote is.  I need help, and I need a little time away.  It's been a loooong dreary winter and I need a little change of scenery for my mental health.  TKC is a quilter and even teaches quilting so if I can absorb a bit of her expertise for the price of lunch on Saturday I'm all for it.  She's a knitter too, and she showed me an excellent thrift store up there.  Teehee, sewing, knitting, AND shopping for bargains... it's going to be a great weekend.  Or I'll flop backwards onto the bed when I get there tomorrow and just zone out for a couple days.  Nah, I won't do that, I'm no good at holding still, not DOING something, I can't just loll around for two straight days.  Ask Durwood.

I've been working not very steadily on my design for the knitting guild's design competition and now it's time to bear down.  I have lots of notes.  I think I'm going to like it though.

March 20--Henri-Edmond Cross, Pines Along the Shore.  The cool fresh breeze came up from the lake bringing the soft scent of pine.  Celia slowed her steps to enjoy the springy pine needle path and the sighing of the trees as they moved with the wind.  There wasn't enough wind to make big waves so she couldn't hear the water moving against the shore.  Her steps were so quiet that the birds didn't stop singing as she passed.  Mark was waiting for her.  He had gone down to fish off the shore before sunup this mor...

And that's where my pencil wandered off because I fell so fast asleep I didn't have time to put it away.  I jerked awake a few minutes later and fumbled the notebook, etc. onto the nightstand and turned out the light.  I have to pick something less jeans-like to wear today.  *sigh*  Funerals suck.
--Barbara