for The Byrds

With the coming of Spring comes the urge to rush into planting season. Actually there are many other things calling to me, or pulling me in wide directions.

Today was the first day of Spring Break for this school division, and I had every intention of conquering the day. I had planned to silently leap out of bed well before anyone else stirred and begin the day purposefully moving through the kitchen making a double batch of my famous gooey cinnamon buns. The only noise to be heard would be the temporary violent gringing of coffee beans. Well...that didn't happen. I think I was the last one out of bed.

I had also planned on getting the back porch completely prepared to receive paint. I did manage to get to the hardware store and buy the paint from the mis-tint section. We weren't picky about the colour, as long as it was somewhere near where we were pointing on the colour wheel...and the prices couldn't be beat.

While at the local male gathering shed (hardware), I remembered that there was a number of electrical changes that needed to be made, seeing as the male owner of the house before us bought all of his parts used or dented. I thought I could probably fit the changes in today as well. I noticed that the 10kg bag of bird seed was on sale, so I got one...thinking that it would be nice to finally fill those three cedar bird feeders I bought an an auction last fall. I paid the friendly lady at the desk, and returned home with a smile.

By this time, Joyce had made lunch for the family. We sat down together. There's nothing like soup and sandwiches on a rainy day. With my resolve renewed, I sat on the couch to take a break. There's no need to rush into these things.

After talking with Joyce on the couch for a while, I started to think about taking the pressure off of my darling wife to plan dinner. I asked her to join me in the basement to look for some meat in the freezer. She thought that it was code for something else and said she couldn't...she had daycare kids to look after. I found some baby back pork ribs and decided that this was going to be dinner. I boiled them for an hour and set them in the fridge to wait for the outdoor grill when everything else was prepared.

During the afternoon I managed to head over to a friend's house who was beginning the installation of a hardwood floor. I had to go and see his technique and feel his new tool...I mean his nail gun. Whenever someone gets a new tool, it's the community's right to get together and grunt and nod our collective approval.

Dinner was grand. The family is fed and the house is quiet. Joyce and the girls are out at the local thrift store gathering together all of the treasures of long ago. Re-purposing is a word heard a lot around here. Those treasures were good in their time, but are even better now in ours.

So, upon evaluation of the day, the closest I got to accomplishing any of my goals was to begin them. The electrical items are still in the bag and the paint hasn't left the tin. I did, however, managed to yell at a couple of my kids, and then apologize for being impatient yet again...just to round out the feeling of accomplishment.

Tomorrow is another chance. The weather is supposed to be even more Spring-like than today. The call to plant will be heard all the more, but I've already taken care of that today as I purchased pepper seeds, and have started the plants indoors just as suggested, six weeks before last frost.

There is a time for everything, and everything will get done in it's time (turn, turn, turn).