SUN

The sun was out. I hope you didn’t miss it.

By my count we have had three days of sun *already* this April! So far, for each of the three days, I have completed the following:

Day ONE) Rush outside to greet the sun. Begin winter, er pre-spring, er early spring cleanup of flower beds. Shed layers of clothing because SUN. Complete half of to-do list before losing focus and wandering off for a walk, because SUN.

 Day TWO) show up to work late because SUN. Complain while at work about being inside, BECAUSE SUN AND I’M PRETTY SURE OUR MOTHERS WOULD WANT US TO GO PLAY OUTSIDE. Yes, I know that’s not my inside voice, but SUN! SUN!! Go home from work and go for a walk.

Day THREE) ---wait, before we go on---I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell my fellow western Washingtonians that the three days of sun in April have not been consecutive. Perhaps if you abide elsewhere you might not be aware of this phenomenon, but April sunshine is a rare and beautiful thing and those days hardly ever happen back-to-back.

Where was I?

Day THREE) Go outside wearing fewer layers. Decide to mow grass. Remember riding mower is buried deep in the garage, blocked in by the push-mower and a bunch of junk you were going to take to the thrift store “sometime” over the winter MONTHS before it would ever impede your need to easily access the riding mower. Get push-mower out. Fill it with gas. Start it (YAY!) Mow tiny side yard. Mow larger side yard. Remove last spare layer. Decide maybe it might be worth moving the thrift store stuff to get the riding mower out after all. Optimistically return to garage. Survey situation. Decide to see if the mower will start BEFORE you go to all the work of clearing a path—I must say, this was a masterful stroke of genius on my part. It left me so much more time to close the garage and go for a walk.

In the SUN.

Resolved 2018

2018: a brand-new year, only used a couple of days, still has that hopeful smell. January is a time of new beginnings, a calendar full of fresh pages. It’s that time of year when I am chocked full of good intentions and eager to put them into practice. Early in January anything seems possible and my list of resolutions can be impressive—I plan to be a much better person; one that leaps tall buildings in a single bound, fits into the jeans she wore in 1979---San Francisco Riding Gear if you must know, SIZE SEVEN; a person who-- while working tirelessly for world peace-- still finds time to be kind to small animals and whose junk drawers are an enviable example of organization. Basically, a human unicorn—something that is nice to think about but probably doesn’t exist. But in January, all seems possible. Perhaps it is the leftover Magic of Christmas that is still spicing the air, I don’t really know why, but I do know it’s way too easy to get carried away and make rash resolutions.

My true resolutions don’t usually come to light until about mid-month, it seems to take me about that long to narrow down what it is I truly want to change/accomplish. Interesting side note: STOP PROCRASTINATING has never made my resolution list—just never got around to it, I suppose.

I spend time in January thinking about what I like, what I want and what I can do to make that happen. If I jump in too early I find that what I think I want or want to change, isn’t the actual problem. For example: one thing I’d like to do is “Go to Yoga”. It would seem simple to set that as my goal. But after spending time reflecting I find out that “Yoga Going” isn’t really the issue. The issue is WHY I don’t go. Yoga starts at 9 am on Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning is also deadline day for this column. If you know me at all, you can already see where the problem might lie. Turns out, my TRUE New Year’s Resolution needs to be less “go to yoga” and more “write Garden Gate BEFORE Tuesday morning.” Yoga going will follow as soon I solve the procrastination problem.

And I will.

Soon. I just need some time to think about it first. In the mean time my junk drawer is alphabetized—which means I now refer to it as my Drawer, with Junk: A through Z.

Happy New Year!