Welcome, Spring!

It was a beautiful spring day today!  The snow has all but melted away (at least in this part of Canada!)  Our first of many (oh, so many!) trips to the beach.  The lake beckons like a magnet.  The little love of my life and I pick up where we left off last fall, when the biting cold and early snows of winter finally sent us on to warmer activities.

We pass by the park without a thought or desire to play on the swings and slide.  The boy has a mission on his mind.  Throwing rocks into the lake!  Lots of rocks!  Lots of rocks that Nana has to collect and deposit at his feet!  A never ending supply of rocks to throw into the lake.  It is his passion.  It is where he wants to be and asks to go to when he wakes up in the morning.

More rocks please, Nana!

I kind of get it!  Not the endless rock throwing thing...but I do get the wanting to be there.  That primal draw that pulls us to water, thing.  And so we go.  It will be every day, weather permitting.  Aidan for the rock throwing.  Nana for the blissful sound of crashing waves, warm sunshine and cool breezes.

Noisy waves, Nana!

Sitting in the sand, cheering him on, I can't help but wonder if one day (many years from now, hopefully!) it will be the other way around.   Aidan bringing his Nana to the beach.  Collecting rocks and placing them at my feet, so I can throw them into the lake.  Maybe he'll find that quiet place in his heart where the crashing waves, warm sunshine and cool breezes make us all 'one with the universe.'  Maybe he and I will find it together.  I hope so.

Oh Spring!...Where Art Thou???

It was a beautiful sunny day today in my neck of the woods.  The day following the 'snowmaggedon' storm.  It wasn't so bad!  We didn't get as much snow as many other surrounding areas.  But it was enough for one day.  Eyes closed and holding my head skyward toward the warmth and brightness of the sun, in the quiet I heard the sound of melting snow dripping on the ground, and I wished for spring and all it brings...budding trees, green grass, and the sound of hundreds of birds greeting each other upon their return home from their southern vacation.  I relished those few moments, then opened my eyes once again.  The snow was still there.  But winter had its own beauty and magic...especially today.

Aidan's Garden, Winter 2011

I can't help but look forward to being in the garden once again with Aidan.  Last year I made a little herb garden for him and me to enjoy together.  I planted english roses, purple and white coneflowers, thymes, rosemary, sage, forget-me-nots, and my favourite of all, the foxglove.  When I was little someone told me that the fairies lived inside the foxgloves.  I believed it then, and I believe it now!  Though the garden is small, we both walked the little stone path and admired our newly planted herbs.  He knows them all by name. 

Aidan's Garden, Spring 2010

 At the end of the stone path sits a bench that once belonged to Aidan's great-grandmother.  At the base of the bench sits a beautiful quartz crystal I dug up in the garden, quite by accident, but what a lovely find.  On the bench sits the "country retweet" birdhouse, that is usually occupied only by spiders!  To one side of the bird house sits the 'patio' furniture for our garden fairy friends to relax on a warm summer night, and on the other side...the honourable Mr. Solobodob!  WHO? you may ask? 

Aidan's Garden, Summer 2010

Well...when I was a little girl growing up in England, there were only a few children's shows on TV back then (yes, we had TV!) and one of those shows was called 'Bill & Ben the Flower Pot Men'. The show was set in an english garden, owned by an old man...Mr. Solobodob!  (I know...sounds more Slovakian than English, but patience please, I'll get to that!)

Anyway, Bill and Ben lived inside two big plant pots at the bottom of this garden, next to the greenhouse.  When Mr. Solobodob wasn't puttering around his garden, Bill and Ben of course, came to life, and would have wonderful adventures in the garden.  However, at the slightest hint of human life, they would quickly plod back to their place by the greenhouse, jump inside their plant pots, and once again become a tumbled pile of terra cotta plant pots.  Their vocabulary, being that of the plant pot race and all, the only thing they could say that was anywhere near understandable to the human ear was "Mr. Solobodob!" shortly before their panicked, and very awkwardly managed, return to their spot by the greenhouse.

I know this 'plot' sounds awfully boring today, compared with what kids now get to watch on TV, but I loved it!  Besides, Bill and Ben got to live on either side of the original 'dumb blonde' (sorry...I REALLY am a feminist!)  But 'Little Weed' was something else!  More of a daisy than an actual weed, her only role in each episode was to unfurl her petals and squeal "Weed! Weed!" whenever she saw Mr. Solobodob heading out to the garden.  (Wow...this last sentence could be a plot for a whole other TV show!!)  But, now that I think about it...she was the 'lookout' for Bill and Ben...not so dumb after all!

Alas, you may inquire...(having actually rambled this far in my post!)...why is Aidan's little Mr. Solobodob plant pot man not named Bill, or even Ben, for that matter?  Simple answer.  And I promise it won't take as long as the rest of this story has taken!  I found him a few years ago, hiding in Ireland (of all the places!)  I looked around in vain for another, but Bill had no Ben (or Ben had no Bill, I don't know which!) so home I came with the lone flower pot man, duly christened 'Mr. Solobodob'  Besides, it's way more fun trying to get Aidan to say that, than just plain old Bill, or Ben.

Enjoy the snow!  And the quiet moments winter has to offer (some days!)  Spring will come soon enough...and so will the birds...and the green grass...and the flowers.  And of course...the fairies!