Aah, I needed that!

Yesterday, as I descended my front porch stairs, I was greeted with the best smell in the world – thawing dirt, the smell of Spring!  Life.  Renewal.  Hope.  Optimism.  Purpose.  Reward.  Spring!  There’s a chance of snow tonight, but I’ll put that out of my mind.  Spring is coming!  The backyard looks like a bomb shell landed on it.  That’s how it normally looks this time of year.  Broken branches litter the lawn.  Bare spots will need to be reseeded.  The fence around the garden is leaning, rusting and falling apart.  My new dog has chewed all my flower pots.  The brick patio needs replaced.  So many things to do.

I spend most of my day scouring the Internet for job opportunities.  Nothing, in my field within a 50 mile radius.  I’m contemplating taking a trip to Raleigh, North Carolina and see what they have to offer.  I wasn’t aware of it, but Raleigh has a lot of tech jobs – graphic arts stuff.  I’ve found quite a few job opportunities there, but the thought of moving scares the socks off of me.  I’ve never lived anywhere else but Decatur.  I’m holding off as long as I can, but the next few months will be telling.

My husband is trying to build up his lawn mowing business.  His job will be ending at Caterpillar in April.  Many families in Decatur are going through the same thing we are.  The community is doing what it can to help, but there’s really only so much they can do.  I find the job and interviewing tips seminars a bit pointless.  My resume could be printed on gold leaf paper, written like a Shakespearean play, with words flowing, rhythmical, and inspiring enough to melt the heart inside of a stone statue, but what good is it, if there’s no jobs to apply for?  It’s hard to keep the chin(s) up, but there’s something about Spring that offers just a little bit of hope, and puts life back into perspective.  There’s plenty to be thankful for.  My kids still get excited during thunderstorms and love to play in the rain.  I can pretty much count on watching deer munching away on the softball field across from my house each evening.  They look back at me, not quite sure what to think, but go back to their eating.  Big fat bunny rabbits hop across the lawn, and soon will be sawing off my tulips!  It’s the only time of year I’d consider eating bunny stew. The birds still sing up above me.  “What, they haven’t heard about the recession?”

My son's pet bird watches happily over the thawing soil!