Ahhh, spring has arrived...actually it came and went with a flourish!!
Saturday morning rains and storms continued into early afternoon, when as if by a
wave of the fairy godmother's wand....spring came. She arrived at 3:18 as two
young girls on bikes rode past on the sidewalk followed by a young man on a
skateboard. I grabbed my Irish garden sweater and went into the back yard to
see spring. She emerged from all of the houses as the neighbors were doing the
same thing. I waved to them, noticing how they all look six months later.
(Most of them I have not seen since late October!!) Everyone just oohed and
aahed about in the yard...looking at fallen tree limbs, emerging daffodils,
pointing to roofs that need repair or crumbling paint or sidewalks!! I also took
notice, yes, I have a leaky roof and my white garden fence needs paint (can it
wait just one more year?) a piece of siding off my barn/garage, my winter
decorations of antique "red flier" sleds and skates which need to be hung up in
Annie's Attic. But, aside of that, the harsh winter was gentle on my little
homestead. Spring lasted for one hour and twenty minutes..I checked my kitchen
clock...for the clouds rolled back in, the temperature dropped twenty degrees,
and it has snowed off and on all day. What a tempting temptress spring is,
but she has promised to come back!

Ellen was up this week end bringing a friend and storyteller from Indy,
Susan. We are doing a trilogy of Hoosier history stories and Susan's was first.
Her performance was this afternoon in a small attached building off of the
Carnegie Library. Her researched piece was about a woman after the Civil War
recollecting stories from her diary. The entrees talk about farming and women's
work and smallpox vaccinations and the war and spinning and weaving...as she
was telling her story I had to remember al of the farm work that I did on the
farm with the boys...from milking my goat herd to spinning my sheep's wool to
growing my own wheat. I learned all the crafts of farm work, and although I
have placed them in the attic of my mind, some stay with me still...

This must be the week for diaries and story collecting as this week at my
health club, a woman gave me her diary of the trip she and her husband made on
their houseboat. They took the inter-coastal trip from Lake Michigan to the
Gulf of Mexico. The descriptions are vivid and interesting...she would like me
to tell her story, I would like that, I told her. So a copy of her journal
will weave itself into a file for someday...

When I returned home after Susan's show, and my company gone, I meandered in
the library and reached for my Grandmother Rhoads' diary of 1935. I treasure
this gift as I can glimpse into the past, into her life. I would like to
share some of the March entrees with you.

March 3: Ironed. Baked pies.
March 4: Stayed home all day. Finished some pillowcases.
March 6: Listened to basketball game in evening.
March 7: Swell weather. The folks went to town. I scrubbed and cleaned. March 9: Washed, did some ironing. March 10: Ironed. Scrubbed cellar. March 11: The children and women went to Waynedale for the evening. Took Mrs. Mason a piece of pineapple pie.
March 13: Home all day. Embroidered. Washed Walter's clothes. March 14: Heavy sleet storm. Very icy in A.M. March 15: Had a nice time at the folks. March 16: Washed. March 17: Ironed. Spaded in the garden. Floods terrible in East. March 18: Did cleaning, finished pillowcases. March 19: Phyllis (my Mom) has a very bad croupy cough. Think she is getting chicken pox. Such a beautiful warm day.
March 20: Had a big surprise snow. It is officially spring today, but don't much look like it. Have had 4 or 5 inches snow and it is still snowing. Phyllis is still broken out more today.
March 21: Cleaned things in general. The snow entirely left.
March 22: Walter (my Grandpa) stayed with Phyllis while I went to town.
March 23: Didn't wash. How it did rain.
March 25: Washed. Got most of the ironing done.
March 26: Finished the ironing.
March 27: Really a windy day. Washed all the bedding out of my room.
March 28: Went to town. Bought a new hat.

So, welcome Spring, a time for new beginnings....and reflecting. Through the
night air I send greetings to all of you all over the United States and
across the seas...to my brother Jack who brags daily about the heat in Texas, to my
Mom and Dad having a glass of wine out on the verandah in the late light of
day, to my Uncle Dean who sends notes about photography and story ideas from
his boat, to my three sons as their lives change and turn with the seasons as
well....Lou Ann

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