SNOW AND ICE AND SPRING FLOWERS

The temperature is 9 degrees. The ground is covered with a white blanket that is sparkling like diamonds in the sunshine. The TV is full of stories of traffic problems, abandoned cars, people that can't get to their jobs, schools are closed and all snow days are used up which means they will have to keep schools open longer than the usual closing time. Poor Tracey is suffering with trying to staff a complete Daycare/Enrichment Center as well as having a School Age Room open to accommodate the children of Dollar General employees that must be at work. Dollar General is a very large company that is getting much larger each week. Corinne told me last night that they are opening 22 new stores this week-end and will open 10 new stores next week-end. Her job involves all of the activities that surround opening a new store and those activities are legion - balloons, food, music, gift cards and lots of bargains - all of which has to be coordinated and come together at a certain time to make for a successful event. She was on the road two hours and twenty minutes in the snow and ice last night trying to get home and because of her dutires that must be completed on time I'm sure she had to contend with the situation this morning. All of this makes me so very glad that I can stay inside my warm, comfortable apartment and, like Houston, just enjoy looking out of each window at the lovely white world.

I have just described the conditions outside but let me tell you what greeted me as I walked into my living room this morning. Amid all of the Winter atmosphere I could smell the sweet smell of Spring! My pot of hyacinths had bloomed overnight. Sitting there on my counter was three purple flowers giving off the most wonderful aroma that only a hyacinth can emit. My cousin, Juanita, loved this flower most of all and so did Aunt Ree. Nita always sent Aunt Ree a pot of hyacinths each February. After the blooms faded I would plant the bulbs and the next Spring their little heads would pop up for us to enjoy once more. I do hope that the people that are now living in my house will enjoy these flowers as much as Aunt Ree and I did. Aunt Ree would quote the following poem for me and I will pass it on to you:

Hyacinths to feed thy soul

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft

And from thy slender store two loaves

alone to thee are left

Sell one and with thy dole

Buy Hyacinths to feed thy soul

I will leave you with the thought that so much joy can be derived from watching Finches feed from a feeder while the ground is covered with snow, and flowers blooming on a day such as this, and my children are safe at work after a slippery, cold commute and I am blessed to be able to enjoy it all as I eat my soup, read my book, play with my dog, and realize again that God is good - all the time (even in the terrible rush hour ice and snow traffic).