Freeze and Thaw

It's January 9th, and I'm getting spring fever.

It's nearly 50 degrees; it's sunny, and I'm wearing flats with no socks.

It's crazy.

However, it's fleeting, because we are in Illinois.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying this crazy batch of weather, because with every thaw, there's a promise of a new spring, a new beginning.

We need this after 2012.

There was the drought. Then there was the crazy fall that seemed to never end. Lately, there has been a family issue that is going to steel our nerves and strengthen our faith for sure, so with this thaw, I have not been as annoyed with the slop on my road (Did you know that there are probably only 30 pellets of gravel left on our road...great, huh?). I have looked at this thaw as an opening to be positive, and see that this year, 2013, is going to be something different.

While different can mean several things, I am choosing the happy definitions today...as I have mentioned above, this thaw is fleeting, and unfortunately, sometimes is my optimism.

However, this is how farm life is. There are freezes and thaws, each bringing its own set of challenges, but equally bringing happy little tidbits that push us onward. While the drought may have been disconcerting, to say the least, it did bring us the pleasure of not having to mow our lawn. While this thaw may have made my car so dirty yesterday that you could hardly see the color of it through the muck...and then to add insult to injury, my Josie, age 6, said, "Mom, aren't you embarrassed by your car?" Oh, Josie...she is her mother's daughter... this thaw and its muck has done wonders for my psyche. A clean car because the muck has now dried a bit in the sun. This thaw and its muck has   allowed Joe to chore in more pleasant conditions, and Dad to haul grain without having to stand in the biting wind while he loads up.

There are good things, right?

My point is, life is freeze and thaw, good and bad, challenging and easy, and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever perfect...no matter how much concealer I put on, how clean I keep my house, and how hard I try to slap on a smile. Life is up and down.

So, here's to a good day, friends. Here's to a thaw.