Here we are in February already. The view out of my windows is a bleak vista of brown, dead vegetation due to temperatures that dip into the low 30's at night. All the shrubs are twigs covered with dripping brown leaves. The plants will take a long time to recover, years maybe.
The end of January saw in my offspring's coming of age. This was not met with fanfare, rather with a sobering reality that all childish things had come to an end. An uncertain future rests on these young shoulders.
There is a dark cloud that hangs over the horizon, not just over my small corner of the world but over the whole nation, certainly the world. I terminated my newspaper subscription because the little news left was so bleak and meagre, instead the paper is filled with ever increasing full page ads screamed to consume. I scan headlines in passing, as I straighten up the dining room at the bakery. I worry for what is to come. My husbands industry, vital until a few months ago is threatening to shutter. The repercussions to his vendors have been equally hard. I am starting to see small businesses in town close their doors as more layoffs loom. On a bright note, our local SPCA opened a bright new thrift shop and their sales have been breaking records, the parking lot is packed to overflowing, the shelves inside are almost bare, the lines at the cash register long.
These days I prefer my solitude and spend many days at the college library working through math problems. Math has never been my friend but has come to my rescue and I see the problems in a new light. Logic triumphs and the answers are always black or white. Spring is just around the corner.
