Snow Storms

I am sitting in a hotel room in Denver watching the blizzard of 2009 swirl past my windows. The pool below me has steam coming off of it and looks a little out of place in the mad winter/spring snowstorm.

Snow in Colorado is not unusual; in fact for March it is pretty common place. We are more likely to have snow at Easter out here in the West than at Christmas! But is always seems to surprise me....even though I have lived here for almost 15 years. Each time we get a few springlike days with high 70 degree weather, I get to thinking maybe we will get passed by for our spring snow. I get out the seed catalogs and start planning the garden. I go to Walmart and see if they have any new garden tools that I just HAVE to have. I even go out to my son's greenhouse and see if he has any early pansies or snapdragons that I might plant out to make spring hurry along just a bit.

And every year without fail I am shocked back into the reality of living in Colorado----this time it is suppose to be 12-18 inches worth of shock! An me and my 2 girls and 3 extra friends all in a hotel about 75 miles from home!!!

We came up to Denver for a speech tournament that was to last the entire weekend. We were all looking forward to it so much. Old friends, great competition, and a little time away in Denver. The flowers are blooming up here and the trees are budded out...always such a nice time to be in Denver.

But the snow started this morning and they closed the college down where the meet was being held, and with no option of driving all the way back home we headed for the hotel. What is usually a 15 minute drive turned into a 60 minute crawl, and all of us traveling in our 15 passenger van!!!! Talk about stressful.

But we made it and we are all safe and sound-----the girls are all in their PJ's watching a movie and texting friends. I am catching up on emails and this blog, and springtime in the Rockies is howling outside around the lonely pool below my window sill.

Our President

Ok-----don't get me wrong....I would wonder this if McCain had won and this was happening. What in the world is the President of the United States doing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno? Will this be the way that the current administration talks to Americans? I just don't get it.

Jay Leno is crass and vulgar, interviews some of the most bizarre people in the news and doesn't seem to really add anything to our nation except a handful of poorly written jokes. And our President appears on his show? Is Oprah next---or maybe Dr. Phil or Jerry Springer?

Is this the way that America is going to find out what is going on in Washington---through Late Night Comedy Shows? Whose idea was this? The PR people at the White House are sure needing to get a little higher standard for public display of our President!

And while I am on it.....Michelle Obama was visiting a school yesterday in Washington D.C. In the photo op. the room was filled with young black students all talking with her. Mrs. Obama was talking about her struggling in school and working hard for her "A". She was recorded as saying "I got teased my whole life for talking funny like a white girl----that did not stop me from getting my "A"!" Hmmmmmm! Should that talk bug me? I kinda does---not because I talk funny or anything.....but can you imagine if the table was reversed and something about a black person was compared........Shouldn't everyone get outraged over unfair statements.....even if we are white?

Yard Work

About this time of year I am so anxious to get outside and play in the garden. I already have a drawer full of seeds waiting to be planted. The tool shed is cleaned and ready to go with all of my hoes and shovels lined up in a straight row looking like little soldiers waiting for their marching orders. The robins and bluebirds are back----a sure sign that spring is here.

But I live in Colorado----spring likes to tease us for 2 months or more before it decides to really settle down and stay put. Just two nights ago we had a covering of light snow on the ground and the robins were all looking for a warm place to spend the evening! The next day it was in the 60's and a bright sun was melting all the evidence from the night before.

But I am not deterred.....being in the garden is one of the best places for me to be. The warm soil, the smell of the young plants, the bees and butterflies keeping me company. I never ever thought of yard or garden work as a chore----just a wonderful way to spend some time outside.

Well yesterday, in our Pastor's sermon , he said something that made me rethink my favorite hobby. He has been preaching from Genesis and last week he covered the fall of man from the Garden of Eden. Sad story----really sad. But this week he talked about the curses that resulted from that fall......more sad stories.

He talked about the pain in childbirth (been there) and how the snake would crawl in the dust (seen that), but then he touched on how the earth would be cursed and we would have to really work hard to get anything to grow after the fall and that man would have to eat with sweat on his brow all the days of his life.

He then went on to talk about yard work---and how we are always in a constant struggle to keep things looking right---mowing, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, tilling replanting. A struggle that never ends----we always have to keep up with it---ALWAYS---if we want anything to grow.
And then he said----"you work the ground all your life trying to keep it under control---and in the end---the ground will win and swallow you up and you will be buried 6 feet deep in it!" Hmmmmmm...........

Can I be buried in the herb garden right under the mint?