Home again, home again

I recently moved into my parent's house while it is on the market.

Because it sat empty for a few months, it's easier to move my own things in and not feel the twinge of despair quite as acutely. I miss them. It's a house that has been mine as well as theirs, as well as all of ours, for twenty years.

I put my kitchen utensils in the same place mom had hers... why improve on perfection? The cupboards are strangely uncluttered; I don't have a lot to fill them and I'm quite happy with that! I am still awed by the view every morning when I come out to turn the coffee maker on. Natalie still thinks Gramma is going to be here with open arms every time we turn in the driveway...

It's wonderful to be here; it's bittersweet, evoking memories and smiles and then the occasional surprise when I return home to find that I'm the only one who lives here.

I filled the feeders and raked out the gardens. I'm watching the snowdrops poke up and look for sun. I put a spanking new American flag in the stand on the deck. Some things are requisite here, flags and feeders being two of them. It's a lovely respite, this time here. I do not know what my future holds, but I am enjoying contentedness in ways I have not previously known and the wonder of that is equal to the wonder of the snowdrops poking through sodden soil, harbingers of a brighter day coming.

Lent is coming. My favorite church season. Ash Wednesday begins the forty days leading to Easter. If you haven't observed Lent in a while, the Upper Room is an excellent online resource. There is a daily study or check out the bookstore for study guides and devotionals on the Lenten practices. If you come from a non-denominational background, it is a deeply personal experience to bring the liturgical practices of the traditional holy days into your spiritual life.

A church readerboard in Freeland reads, "Hope Springs Eternal!" I want to sneak over in the dead of night sometime and rearrange it to read, "Spring's Hope Eternal!"

It's just around the corner, really...