Spring Fever in January

I think the temperature hit seventy this afternoon. I spent two hours outside keeping a friend company while she whacked a large bush at my front gate. Hurray! This is one of those projects that I have been wanting to see done for so long that I can't remember and I am almost ready to "cry for happy."

The sun is shining in. I am sitting here with my knitted hat off for the first time in at least two months and the knitted wristers aren't necessary to type. Sun shines in the window and music plays on the headset.

It wasn't until I was outside that I realized just how cranky I had become from being inside for so long. The days are also lengthening and a bit more sunshine helps so much.

The garage is too full, much too full. What does one do with an old "mangle" ironing machine? There was a time when I could whiz through much of our household ironing sitting in front of that machine. The beautiful mahogany cabinet that, fortunately, has been covered since Papa put it out there was so full of stuff that my friend could not budge it. It now awaits the summer when she will return from sailing. I would so like to retrofit it as a media cabinet for the living room.

There are bicycles, old wheelchairs, a cedar armoire and a blanket chest as well as a child's crib all neatly tucked away and helping to fill a space that for decades actually held a 1955 Chevy Bel Air two door sedan--slightly smashed by a falling tree limb as we drove home from Mass one Sunday. Five minutes one way or the other and the tree would have missed us. Such is life's timing!

The Chevy has moved on to a new owner who is happily restoring it. I would like to see a few more items move out this year. Maybe having the central space of the garage as a space is a goal for 2009; modest sounding but more daunting than it seems.

I am grateful for time spent outside, for that bush moving on, for my friend's help and I will be grateful when there is less stuff in my garage!