I haven't posted in over a year. 
Time to get it in gear. 
Spring is here!

Wake me up when it's over

Filthy, sodden snow
Sky of lead above my head
My heart longs for SPRING

Emily asked if I wanted to go skydiving...

I said YES!

It was a tandem jump, and my instructor/partner was David.

Had to back into position in the plane...

The fella with the dreads was the pro/partner of one of Emily's friends.

This was the door:

Showtime!

Anticipation... watching two other teams go first...

Here we go!

When we exited the plane, there was a brief moment of realization that there was no undoing it...

...then the awe set in!

Now we're falling at about 120 mph.

It was spectacular!

We spun around a bit...

Here we're still falling with nothing but a teeny white parachutelette to provide a little drag...

Then we fell through a cloud...

At this point the camera man kept going and David popped the chute just as we came out of the cloud...

It was a soft landing, right on the butt.

It was exhilarating!

BUG

Concoction of the day:

1. Prepare 1 box Near East Whole Grain Wheat Couscous using 1 1/2 c V-8 juice seasoned with 1 t ground cumin, 1/2 t Ancho chili powder, a pinch or two of salt and 1 1/2 T olive oil.

2. Heat one can black beans (I used Kuner's Southwestern Jalapeno Black Beans with Lime Juice).

3. Procure some salsa--I used Sweg's Medium Restaurant Style Salsa, sour cream and shredded cheese (if desired).

4. Cut 3 leaves of Romaine lettuce into strips (a large chiffonade) and dice half a ripe avocado.

5. Assemble in pasta bowl or on large plate in the following order: Bed of Romaine, 1/2 cup or so seasoned couscous, 1/2 c or so beans, avocado, salsa, sour cream and shredded cheese. Dee-lish.

It was a glorious day!

Took Buster for a well-deserved walk, his first in 3 days. We were barely out of the yard when we encountered Jenny the Pug and her two human companions. Jenny's people were happy to allow Jenny the opportunity to interact with Buster, as she doesn't get a lot of canine interaction and seems to be about as well-behaved as Buster. After a few minutes they were sniffing in proper friendly dog fashion.


We passed the yard with all the flowers in bloom.

We stopped to visit with Tyler, another canine friend, but his person wasn't home so there was no frolicking in the schoolyard.

Later, back at the homestead, Robert and I brewed some beer. We took turns stirring the wort.

It made the whole house smell like malt and hops. Mmmmmmm...

41 degrees! Thursday, March 5 2009

Took my best boy for our regular neighborhood walk and saw the following:

LOOK! I had been keeping an eye out for just this kind of sign!


More!

There is a little old lady in the neighborhood whose front lawn is my harbinger of SPRING. she told me that she and her husband went to Lowe's years ago, bought a whole cartload of daffodil bulbs, and planted them in their front yard. They have since added others--crocus, hyacinth, tulips...

It won't be long until the whole lawn is abloom! Today it's even warmer. I imagine the sounds of the emerging flowers, pushing their way towards the light! Buster just wants to sniff things, and they're more fragrant when they're not frozen.

This made me think of my father:

This is a food item that was always found in my stepmother's pantry, but never in my mother's.

This partial corncob looks autumny, leftover:

Howl away, March wind!
Blow out winter's stale remnants-
New life emerges!

Midwinter Spring-tease-
ice recedes from the sidewalks,
whispers "I'll be back..."