Early Spring was shaping up nice and warm, then out of nowhere, the temperatures dropped. No panic, of course, that’s the way spring shakes out, after all.

Bad things about the re-freeze: getting the chicken run sorted.

Good things about the re-freeze: restocking the firewood. How’s that good, you ask? Well. I’d already retired the small woodrack from the house back into storage, so I was carefully selecting a mix of wood to burn in what would probably be the last couple fires of the season. And what should I spy but the wedding ring I’d lost a couple months ago! There it was sitting on an inexplicably flat log in the woodshed, gleaming like the One Ring to Unite Them All (okay, maybe that’s overstatement). Friends, I was crushed a couple months ago when I realized my wedding ring had fallen off in the cold while doing chores. Internally, I understand that a ring is entirely symbolic, and the actual value (more at: cost) of a simple band is minimal, but a replacement seemed somehow wrong, as in, I’d rather go without a replacement.

There have been a few sparks of joy this year: January 20, my Covid vaccine, and lately, the rediscovery of a simple white gold band Dr. Evil gave me years ago.