We Keep Hoping

First Day of Spring was March 20 -- 25 days ago. Perhaps it seems to you, our fair readers, that we complain about the weather a lot. Okay so maybe we do. But here's why...I read my sister-in-law's blog and see pictures of blooming flowers and children hunting for eggs in short sleeves. I see pictures from my Facebook friend who lives in Alabama, and people are in shorts and flip flops, and my friend in Virginia posts pictures of the cherry blossoms. I read Johnny Tremain to my oldest daughter, a historical fiction story set in Boston at the beginning of the American Revolution, and the text says that April that year was warmer than normal and the pear trees were already in bloom (I kid you not, that's what we read tonight). Let me tell you, there is no blooming here. Okay, I guess I must admit that the daffodils and crocuses have been popping out, and we did notice the start of something on a tree at our church this week, but it seems slow in coming.

But if today is any indication, we might be getting even closer--Cory, Lucy and I rode our bikes to story time at the base library (imagine angels from the heavens singing right now). I've been hoping for this day for a while now, wondering when it would come. This base is quite small--we have a library, a gym, parks, a swimming pool, a donut shop, grocery store, and movie theater all within biking distance. It's really a step back in time for me when I used to ride my bike all over our little city in Kansas--to the golf course with a picnic lunch, to the donut shop, to the library, to the post office, to the park... Those days were great, and for most of us they're days of the past, but for a little while, for the time the higher powers keep us here, we get to have them now, and my kids get a little taste of that, too.