Amaryllis No. 3

Although the snow has disappeared from the valley bottom, the weather remains dismal and gloomy and nothing stirs one to anticipate a quick arrival of Spring.

However, the last of the amaryllis bulbs is making the big bathroom cheery. Along with a few slowly evolving hyacinths it speaks of the particular beauty that late winter brings.

I think longingly of the forsythia in the Lost Garden, and sometimes consider a midnight raid to snip off a few sticks to force into golden bloom. On the other hand, I could always ask the new owner to oblige with some prunings.... By next year the forsythia in the new garden should have lots of bloom, but this year all the shrubs are too small to provide more than a smidgin.

Patience, patience, - it is a virtue that keeps evading me, no matter how hard I try to cultivate it! The days go by so fast when one ages, and time is of the essence, to the nth degree!! Far too many things still left to do and to experience. I will say nothing about diminishing energy in case it discourages me and the spark falters.

I keep in my mind Longfellow's poem on Enthusiasm, A Psalm of Life:

"Let us then be up and doing,
with a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait."

and his quote on aging, -

"For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

Some days I am more enthusiastic about these inspirations than I am on others......(sigh)

Some days I remember another verse of Longfellow's Psalm of Life;

"Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave."

It adds a little expediency to life!

And the sun and mild breezes help, - away, away, O Gloomy Days.