Softened

K knows that any sudden appeal to stop the car and turn around means one of two things...a pile of stuff by the side of the road with a free sign in front of it or a fabulous photo op worth turning around for, no matter how heavy the traffic. 

And so it was the other day. A perfectly mundane kind of day. Packing in the morning, trips into town to ship, gassing up the car and checking the air pressure in the tires. I saw it immediately, lying there on the ground next to the air machine. A large, gnarly crab apple limb, recently broken off in the previous night's wind storm. I was sure it could be saved. I'll force it, you'll see. 

Trying to look excited, K cast a slight eye roll my way and muttered something that sounded an awful like anything for you, dear. Then he dutifully got back out of the car, retrieved the roadkill and placed it carefully in the back of the van. 

It's been two weeks since that day. Two long weeks of no action, unless you count the many times the cats knocked it over trying to drink out of the pitcher. And then suddenly this morning those buds weren't just slightly swollen, they were green, and by day's end it was easy to see that we'd soon have blossoms indoors.

It's been a very mild winter but that hasn't softened my desire for it to finally be Spring. Force it, I say. Make it happen indoors if you have to. Every now and then Mother Nature needs a little help.