Work and memories

The transition from fall to winter is indeed a physical one. The garden has to be cleaned.  The apples have to be picked.  The lawn furniture has to be stored.  The fountain needs to be cleaned.  Pots need to be emptied.  Bulbs need to be dug.  Perennials need to be trimmed.  The hot tub needs a fresh fill.  The snow blower and lawn mower need to be switched.  The cars have to be winterized.  The furnace needs to be checked.  The supply of liquor for the freshly filled hot tub has to be surveyed.  Golf clubs need to return from their summer storage location.  And the amazing thing about this litany is it is simply that…a litany of things to do. It is NOT a complaint.  You see, to complain, I would have to find that any of these things was difficult or impossible for us to do.  Oh sure, the muscles suggest that it has been a while since we reversed this process in the spring.  The back is a little sore, the hips are a little sore, the knees are a little sore, but we can do it.  That means we are alive, and healthy, and mentally able.  As we “mature”, those things are all good! When I came in yesterday from the first day of chores, I removed my shirt for my shower and it smelled just like the sheets use to smell when mom hung them on the line and then put them on the bed just before I jumped in.  That freshness was amazing, and a trigger.  Tomorrow would have been mom’s 94^th birthday.  It doesn’t seem possible that she’s been dead that long.  Ms. Lucy stories still abound.  The things she taught those around her still resonate.  I see her in my sister.  I hear her in me.  And I miss her.  That’s why I’m not complaining.  You see, Ms. Loosewheel (we have several names for her!) would have loved to be doing what I have been doing!  Happy birthday mom.  I’ll hoist one in the newly filled hot tub in your memory!  And the rest of you, enjoy the fact that you can, and know you are loved!