Dreary and Dark with a Little Bloom

Today was one of those classic dark, dreary, soggy Pacific Northwest kinds of days. The weather outside didn't help that I was already feeling kind of tired, or that I had to get up early for a substitute job. There's something wrong with arriving to work when it is still dark outside...at least there was still a bit of daylight when I got home this afternoon. Enough to let Bam out of his kennel so the two of us could go visit the chickens, throw them some corn scratch and check for eggs. One piece of the "bright side" was going into my greenhouse for a moment, it's where I've been storing the corn scratch. Rain was coming down in a sprinkle and I stopped for a little while to listen to the sound of the drops on the greenhouse roof. It is a happy sound for me. I spent every moment I could out in that greenhouse during the first long grey winter and spring I spent in the Pacific Northwest. That year even locals who'd been here for decades were talking about the never ending rain and grey skies, it was a particularly gloomy winter and spring. The greenhouse was my retreat, my happy place during that time. That sound of rain drops was part of what was then a new life for me, a life that I was trying to find my place in. Today that sound made me think of how far I've come in a few short years. I feel grateful for the fact that I've gone from feeling like an outsider that doesn't belong, an "extra" in my husband's life, to feeling like a true local, someone that belongs here, someone that loves living here, someone who has made dear friends in this area.

So where are the sunshine and crisp days of last week? When I came into the house from my garden, I continued looking for the "bright side" and found a bit more of it in my kitchen window. The hyacinths bulbs that found their way from my Christmas stocking to this bulb vase have begun to bloom. I thought I remembered forcing some hyacinth bulbs about a year ago but wasn't sure until I went back through some of my first blog posts and found this one.

It's interesting to me to see how my blogging "style" has evolved over this past *almost* year. I hadn't done much pleasure writing for many years before I started this blog. Journaling had been an on-again-off-again habit a long time ago, but it never really felt completely like me - at least not enough to keep me writing for any extended period of time. So this blog has been a good way for me to grow as a writer (not than I fancy myself to truly be "a writer", just someone who likes to put down a few words on a semi-daily basis...) It has felt a bit awkward at times to try to find my writing voice, sometimes when I try to put thoughts into written words it just doesn't come out right. But, it has become easier with each post.

I mentioned a celebratory give-away back before New Year's to mark my 200th post, and even though I'm now somewhere close to the 220's, I haven't forgotton...the idea is still rolling around in my brain. I'm not promising when, but soon I'll make something happen there.

Hope your week is off to a good start, Happy Monday!