Maintenance Phase

I titled this post "Maintenance Phase", which doesn't have anything to do with the podcast (although I am a fan.) It's become clear that this the life phase I am currently in. Keeping things moving - getting kids to school, getting myself to work, keeping the house clean and staying on top of chores - is the focus of my days. The weather is not helping, with freezing temperatures and windy days keeping us inside. We've had a few glimpses of Spring, but we're not quite there yet.

It's been awhile, so here are some photos from the past few months. You can still see leaves on the trees in many of these, which is a time I have already forgotten existed.

In a glorious moment of serendipity, I was able to see one of my all-time-favorite pieces of classical music, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto (no. 2), performed live. This venue isn't too far from me and I hope to see more performances there. But - this one started at 8:00. AT NIGHT. I'm basically the social media meme of a 40-something who can no longer leave their house after dark. I was out way past my bedtime so I guess I can only go to matinees from now on.

It was the snowiest winter in several years. I've heard the phrase "stick season", mostly used in New England, to describe the time before it snows when the world is brown. Well, in the mid-Atlantic that's just winter. It's dark, grey, and brown and depressing. Snow is always welcome, brightening up the landscape. Because of all the snow days, instead of school ending on a Friday this year, it now ends with a half day on Monday. I mean, come on. No one is going to go to that and it messes up all the camp schedules!

Flower season has now started with hundreds of seedlings being sewn and tended to. It's not long now before I start preparing the garden and planting out. My flower subscription sales have been much lower than normal this year, something I'm hearing from other flower sellers as well. Everything is expensive these days and I understand that fun purchases, like flowers, are the first to go. I also decided to take a 6-week break in the middle of the summer so that's also going to impact sales. Luckily I am not financially dependent on this business at all, but I know other growers are, so please support your local flower farm, even if it's just one bouquet during the season! (Buying locally is now more important than ever, no matter your location.)

I have been struggling with my "why" regarding this blog for awhile. Posting takes time and effort, and I'm already a regular journaler so I don't necessarily need to record my life in this way. If you are a blogger, I'd love to hear what keeps you going. Although I have had significant breaks, I have been blogging for twenty-one years. But, the state of the world is not great right now, and I like the idea of documenting the beauty that still exists.

In other news, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist dropped this week! I've already read three books on the list (The Safekeep, All Fours, and The Ministry of Time), and plan to read the full longlist eventually. I started this week with Broken Seeds, the only book I don't have to wait in a lengthy hold line for. I look forward to discussing these with those of you who are also reading along this year.