Head: Lion in, Hopefully, Lamb Out
By Kathy Miele
So far this winter we’ve broken two snow shovels so Steven was out trying to find another one before the next big snow was going to hit.
I was taking out the garbage out when Steven pulled into the driveway. “Any luck finding one?” I called as I dropped the bag in the can and put the lid back on.
“Everyone’s sold out,” he said as he climbed out of the car. “I guess we’ll have to take turns using the only one we have left.”
I was walking back to the front door with Steven, both of us dreading the coming snowstorm, when something wonderful caught my eye.
“The daffodils are coming up!” I cried. I bent down to take a closer look. Sure enough, 4 inches of green leaves were surrounding the tiny shoot of the yellow flower still tightly closed against the cold. “This is exactly what I need to see to get us though the next few weeks of winter,” I said as I gently pulled a dead leaf away from the flower.
Steven pulled his collar up closer to his neck. “Yeah, they’re great,” he said as he headed for the door. “But, I’m freezing so I’m going in. Are you coming?”
Even though I was shivering I needed to take a quick walk around the yard to see what else was coming up. “I’ll be in soon,” I said as I began my nature hunt.
It didn’t take me long before I was noticing the buds on some of the trees and more shoots trying to break through the ground. When I finally made it back into the house all three of my guys were in the kitchen.
I was freezing, rubbing my hands together trying to get the feeling back into my fingers. But even though I couldn’t feel my nose or my fingers I couldn’t help smiling as I sang out, “Spring’s on its way!” I got ready to make myself a cup of tea to warm myself.
“Really?” my son, Alex asked. “Dad was just saying there’s another snowstorm coming.”
“There is,” I answered as I filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove.
Alex groaned. “I was hoping that you’d heard something different and we weren’t going to be up early shoveling tomorrow.”
“No, you’re up early tomorrow cleaning off the cars and sanding the walks,” I answered. “It’s just that I finally noticed that some of the spring flowers are popping up around the yard so, as far as I’m concerned spring is just around the corner!”
“Well it’s not close enough around the corner for me,” Alex complained as he headed back to his room mumbling something I’m not sure I really wanted to hear.
I looked over at Steven. “I guess my try-looking-on-the-bright-side way of thinking didn’t go over so well.”
“Can you blame him?” Steven asked. “I feel like all we’ve done this winter is make bigger and bigger piles of snow along the driveway.”
“But with all the buds coming up there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” I said, hoping that my the-glass-is-half-full would change his, the-glass-is-half-empty way of looking at things.
“Really! So are you telling me you’ll be outside bright and early tomorrow shoveling with us?” he asked.
“Are you kidding?” I tried not laugh. “I’ll be doing what I’m always doing on a snowy day. I’ll be inside making a pot of homemade chicken soup and catching up with the laundry.”
“Exactly,” Steven said as he too walked away mumbling something I’m not sure I wanted to hear.
