The 'Ides'

Here we sit in the middle of March - the famous Ides and of course it's a special day for me 'cause I turn 56 today. The weather cooperated very well today and we had clear and sunny skies although not too warm. Good for a bike ride to my 'stitch and bitch' where I was greeted with a cake and candles by my new friend, Anne. I spent most of the a.m. talking on the phone but did get an hour out in the proposed garden area getting the rocks out.

Middles of the month are always known as 'the ides', I believe, and in teaching it always felt like a bit of a down time - we weren't almost finished another month - there's something about being able to change that calendar that was so refreshing for me while in teaching. But that's 'cause I was always counting the days. Now I don't really notice it at all so 'the ides' are just there and on we go.

Our isolation has improved. It did take almost two days to get the road to Nelson open but we now have one lane of traffic open so it's slow, but doable. There's major rain in the forecast for the weekend once again so we'll see how the improvements do with a storm. Dave went to Calgary with no difficulty and all the roads were open.

Spring in the Kootenays has been pretty much like spring any place else I've lived. It just gets here earlier. The "yoyo effect" is certainly present, just like the prairies, but it's warmer. Hurrah for spring!