April, no fooling

It's April, at last.  The next month to come is May, and that's when you make a real commitment to spring.  In April we have snow, rain (maybe) and mud season.  I have a muddy driveway right now, I don't drive in it.  I have a colorful history of mud seasons past.  I've been stuck in the mud too many times.  Once I got stuck up to the running boards, then it got below zero and my car froze in the mud.  That took an AAA wrecker to pull--hard--to get it released.  Another time I got stuck right next to the house, up to the axles.  There was a new AAA garage that year, and they were like characters from a sitcom.  They used a come-along around a tree, first asking if they could use a screwdriver because it was broken.  Oh yeah, lots of confidence in them.  After that I quit belonging to AAA--

My driveway already has ruts from someone anon. who drove to my house, turned around, spun his tires and drove off.  I was so proud of my efforts to avoid ruts until then.  I still haven't driven to the house, showing remarkable restraint.  Anyway, this is the only time you can fill in ruts, when the mud is nice and gooey.  Another thing I've learned the hard way.  Many summers my driveway has been uncomfortable to drive in due to deep mud-season ruts.

I had a quiet weekend, but was productive and had  social life.  I cleaned some things, sorted some clothes (some pants are now TOO BIG), made yogurt, etc.  Watched plenty of TV, including some of the basketball games.  Go UConn.  Though I think it would be good if Butler won.  There's a heartwarming story about one of the key players.  awwww.

I went out for fried perch Saturday night with Fred.  Delicious food, though I'm self-conscious about eating anything in front of people.  Braces suck.  Big time.  We had a good visit and the food was great.  Brought some home for the dogs, who are fond of perch, raw or cooked.

Sunday I went to friends' for spaghetti dinner at noon.  Our usual Sunday gathering place and crowd.  Again, good food.  This meant I lost no weight last week, but at least I gained nothing, either.

The weather was great both days, warm sun.  Good breeze to help melt the snow.  We have at least a foot of snow left--it's taking forever to melt because it hasn't been that warm.  Cold nights, single digits a lot in the past couple of weeks.  Warmer now, but still not always above freezing. I've cut back on my fire making, only having fires in the evening.  Another sign of spring: I went into the cellar hole and turned off the heater I use all winter to prevent pump and pipe freezings.  That's a big deal.  I don't like going down there when there's no one around--it's a hole under the bathroom, accessed by a trap door.  Sort of like the cellar holes the pioneers had to hide in when the Indians came.  If the door slams shut I'm sunk.  The hole is about 7' high, has a crushed stone floor and is a miserable place for a pump.  Many, many people have spent many, many hours working on the plumbing down there.  Many gallons of water have filled the hole when power goes out and the sump pump doesn't run.  During our famous ice storm in '98 the cellar hole filled with water, then the water froze when temp dipped below zero.  It was awful.  My pump is NOT a submersible pump, but that one bravely kept working afterward.  When I discovered the ice, I slammed the door shut and pretended I knew nothing about it. I've been having strange dreams lately; parts of some of them are disturbing, others are puzzling.  One night I had a bad dream about my best friend, she was in terrible shape.  I called her the next morning and we established the truth: she's just fine, cheerful and happy.  whew.

In a month the summer people will start returning.  The first wave should arrive around May 5.  Memorial Day will bring more, June even more, then we'll be in full swing.  Hard to believe it's all going to happen soon.  Wait ... let's get rid of the snow first.

A good friend (do I have any bad friends?) is turning 80 in May and her daughters are putting together an album of memories collected from friends.  I knew Ann when I first arrived here 26 years ago.  She worked at the library system.  Her daughter Brook worked here too, and Brook and Dan lived near us.  We were renting a former school house, a really nice little place.  Brook and Dan became our closest friends and we spent pretty much every free hour with them.  Dan even worked at the sawmill for a while, though that was far from satisfactory for all involved. 

Anyway, Ann is a wonderful person so I wanted to do something notable.  Nothing came to mind, though, no anecdotes about our work together.  I finally found some pictures from a trip Jamie & I took to Ann's house in the wilds.  We delivered sawdust from the mill and picked up a zillion white rabbits they wanted to get rid of.  Not a happy ending for the rabbits--they were bound for Snyder's Bunny Farm, where rabbit meat is cheap.  Ann and her husband had intended to be self-sufficient when they settled in, but found it unpleasant and difficult to kill any of the livestock.  They had a bunch of bunnies, and one day Ron set them all free.  It's true what they say about rabbits, and soon there were dozens of dozens.  Ron felt bad so continued to feed them.  He'd rattle the feed pan and they'd come hopping in from the woods.  Very dear, but Ann finally said they couldn't afford to feed that many pet rabbits. 

Life is still good, lots of happiness and peace for me.  I'm hoping to plant flower seeds soon (indoors--who knows when there will be bare ground).  My crocuses will show up eventually, when the snow melts.  The ice will go out, though guesses are it will be late this year.

Dogs are fine.  They'll be 12 and 8 this year.  Tess has her new "Tess the Bog Dog" tag and is all set to hike with nice strangers through the bog.  I'm looking forward to walking the bog, too, it's been a long time since I've been in there.  Must wait for snow to melt.