Don’t Hesitate
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
Mary Oliver
Another frosty night, another cold day ahead of us. At least it's sunny. And very windy. I may have mentioned at some stage that I dislike winter. I herewith confirm this strong dislike. My lower arms are recovering from the infection but it still looks like an angry red case of scabies. The grandchild was impressed. Was there lots of blood, they asked? Tell me again Granny, did it run down to your hands?.
Various events in the near and far make me anxious. On Saturday, I visited all the party stalls at the farmer's market and pretended to read their hand-outs while I waited until the respective candidate had noticed me. I then asked each of them the same set of questions. After they had produced their helpful/empty/instructive/off-topic reply I told one of them that I think him completely unsuited for representing me in the national parliament and urged another to get her act together for goodness sakes and a third one gave me a bunch of tulips before I could even open my mouth but we agreed that a bunch of forcefully grown flowers from a Dutch greenhouse will not buy my vote. I gave the tulips to the guy from the coffee truck, as he had just passed his German language exam and can now apply for a German passport. He said he intends to vote at the next general election, not this one and I promised him that I do what I can so that he will be able to.
We have exactly one snowdrop flowering in the herb bed of all places. Thankfully, the eranthis has spread all over the place and is flowering to abandon. I am now off to get more birdfood. Also, more coffee.