Don — Page 209

Fairies in the Trees

March 24, 2012 at 2:35 pm by Claudia

e have lots of wild roses all over the edges of our property. I call them brambles, but they are technically wild roses. For the most part the pricky roses and I get along, but today found Don and I outside cutting down the ones that are growing around our Catalpa tree. I managed to get pricked countless times – oh my aching body!

As we were finishing up, Don looked at the base of the tree and a piece of bark that was on the ground and had an idea.

Next thing I knew, we were drawing a little window and adding a stone doorknob.

I’m going to make a twig chair or bench that will sit just outside the door.

My husband has a wonderful sense of whimsy.

Sunday Update

February 26, 2012 at 12:24 pm by Claudia

The winds were howling all day yesterday and through the night. We’re always left with an unsettled, edgy feeling when that happens. I was crossing my fingers that the willow would survive the winds until it can be taken down properly on Tuesday. It did.

I caught these two snoozing on the loveseat:

Ssh! Don’t tell Don I posted this!

Don was taking a nap under what he calls his ‘sleeping bag’ – in reality, a down jacket.

Scout looks cozy, doesn’t she?

I think they’re adorable, but then again, I might be a wee bit biased. Riley was in the den with me.

It’s sunny and cold today and the wind has stopped. I have more crocheting to do for the shop. Speaking of the shop, I listed these two scarves this morning (update: sold):

I’m starting a new one in silk and bamboo:

It will be awfully pretty in this color – sort of a wine or burgundy. By the way, your order comes with one of my little business cards (like the one above) tucked in the wrapping. You can have your very own “Sheep with a Party Hat!”

Have a great Sunday.

Walking Together

February 21, 2012 at 9:48 am by Claudia

On a not-a-cloud-in-the-sky Monday, Don and I took a walk on the Rail Trail.

There is such beauty in the stark landscape of winter.

A splash of red berries against the browns and grays.

It felt good to be walking in the woods with my sweetie.

We, like everyone else I suppose, tend to get in a rut. Don works until late in the evening and I’m usually asleep before he gets home. I rise early. If we just let the time go by, Don doing his thing, me doing mine, before you know it, it’s time for him to leave for work and then our little window of opportunity is gone. We’re going to make a concerted effort to change that.

Yesterday we talked of camping, the smells of the forest, childhood memories, being a camp counselor, lashing together a lean-to. You know, the kind of exchange that doesn’t happen on just any old day. It was special and we need those special times together.

Then last night, I spoke with my dad. After our usual early evening conversation, he called me back. He’s so sad nowadays as he watches my mother drift away. He wanted – needed – to share some memories. Good memories. And some of them were of our family camping trips, days at the lake, driving us back to our respective colleges after a weekend at home. He talked about having very little money when my brother and I were kids. I assured him I never felt deprived. And that he was and is a good father. I’m crying as I write this, because my heart was touched so deeply by his need to talk about happy memories. His days now are about visiting my mother, hoping she might feel like talking, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wife he once knew. He’s devoted to her. He takes her magazines, and plays her favorite music, sometimes just sits there as she sleeps, holding her hand. Such sadness nowadays.

Don and I have been together over 17 years. My parents have been together 66 years. I don’t know how I would feel if I felt Don slipping away from me. I can only imagine the heartbreak, the realization that the end of our days together was near. How my parents, together so many years, can even begin to face this is beyond me.

Sometimes life is so beautiful. Sometimes it is absolutely heartbreaking. All in the course of one February day.

Fairies in the Trees

Sunday Update

Walking Together

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Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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