Easter

April began with an April Fools' snowstorm,

but Easter renewed our faith in Spring,

and Colin celebrated another birthday!

April Fools

This is Duncan's first "collection" of 2011; it consists of items he collected in the yard and on the few walks we have taken since Spring officially began. I was certain his little cache was a true sign of Spring, yet it has snowed not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES since I took this photo. Today, I am choosing to believe that we got lucky. The original forecast was for 10 inches of snow between Thursday night and Saturday morning. We awoke to about 1" of snow, which melted throughout the day, even as the snow continued to fall. We still have green grass, daffodil sprouts, and blooming crocus so I am certain today was just a blip on the radar, so to speak, but really, Mother Nature.  REALLY???!!!

Spring at the Deerhill Inn

Spring is a little far behind in Vermont.  If you didn't have a calendar, you wouldn't know spring from just another winter day.  I'm not sure why we like to come here during March because it's like stepping back two weeks in time.  Mostly, we like that it's quiet; we have the entire inn, almost the entire town, to ourselves.  Our innkeepers upgraded our room since we're the only visitors, and the service is incredible.  Amenia will seem like Bermuda as we drive back down the mountain and head into New York.  

Tearin' It Up In Amenia

We know how to party here in Amenia. We spent yesterday engaged in some long overdue house cleaning, which was, again, no fun for anyone. The dust bunnies threatened to grow into Easter bunnies, and much of our yard had moved indoors. I was questioning whether the bathroom was sanitary enough for my child. Everything is clean and lemony now.

Furthermore, high on our success with purging Duncan's space, I gathered the fortitude to deal with our own book avalanche. Again, I neglected to document visually the state of our books, but it much resembled Duncan's pile of 12 month clothes and the book overflow under the coffee table. There were stacks and stacks of books posted around our bedroom - Christmas and birthday books I hadn't had the time to make space for. This kind of situation is fine if you're single, or even if you're married to someone who can overlook your quirks; a toddler, however, finds towers of books to be excellent climbing material. Many have been the falls and near misses, not to mention my annoyance at having to stack the books AGAIN. It finally occurred to me that: a) we will not be buying any more bookcases until we buy a house - there is literally nowhere else to put them; b) no one in our house will be reading Aristotle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or the 20 year old copy of Gleitman's Introduction to Psychology that launched me into fame and fortune; so c) something had to give. It was amazing how much bookshelf space was freed simply by filling a small U-Haul moving box with books we literally never open. I'm sure the movers will be taking that box to our next house, but for now, THE BOOKS HAVE BREATHING ROOM! Everything is on the shelf. It's like a breath of fresh air, which is a good thing, because...

Today is spring! Even though it was dreary, cold, and windy, and we had to wait until 4:15 p.m. to see the sun, it is unequivocally spring. I have faith, which is probably why Easter tends to arrive with spring. Even if you don't believe in the whole Christian tradition, how can you not believe in the power of spring to bring rebirth?

As for the knitting...could I be more of a novice? First, there is nothing more painful than ripping out 1/2 inch of knitting because you weren't paying attention and went too far. Then, not once, not twice, but three times I knit and ripped out the three rows involving the first button hole. I keep losing a stitch. Either I don't remember how to knit the yarn over, or I am supposed to lose the stitch (somehow, I suspect the former). How much will it matter if I lose that stitch twice on the right and left sides? Perhaps the Yarn Harlot can live with such ambiguity, but I cannot. I can, however, read so I guess I'll research the yarn over before I try again. The Yarn Harlot probably knit at my level when she was 2. Can you be more novice than novice? On the bright side, I'm incredibly proud of my sister Lorna who ALSO set out to knit something other than scarves and was FINISHING (I know - it's a word foreign to me these days) a bag when I saw her this weekend. I'm jealous. The only things I have finished in ages are the gauge swatches for this sage green thing without button holes.

But it's spring! Breathe it, think it, feel it (even in Amenia).