April..the Cruelest Month? Yes.....and No!

First Stow Lake Goslings of 2014!

April began with Storms, with my overwhelming mountain (think Everest) pile of medical bills, with my job and long/dangerous commute...none of this helped my body to continue healing...STRESS, as some of you know, is a killer...

But, by month's end, my job had ended too. A few of the good things I will miss there (besides the paycheck) are:  Fay Wray, the Standard Poodle...

And Gracie...the Golden Retriever...

Then, a few days ago, after many many, MANY calls and filled out forms, I received my Medical card....Hallelujah!   This won't pay all my medical bills, but it will bring the total down a lot... I can feel my blood pressure lowering and my burns healing...

California Poppies a bloom!

A little bit of HOPE, of light at the end of the tunnel!

Mr. Red-Winged Blackbird struts his stuff as he *serenades* his lady!

Spring has totally arrived....  for how long, I don't know..(the *Mini-Winter* can't be too far away), but in the meantime. I am reveling in it...

Mr. Crow visiting the Moon Pool at the Arboretum!

Moon Pool Reflections.....

Mr. Snout-Nosed Turtle II...  there have always been two of them, but for a year #2 wasn't around until today!




Here's #1..

So, I leave you at April's end, with 75 degree temps... feeling a lot different than I did at the beginning of the month....but now, I have HOPE...and one needs that to go on with Life.

For those of you who have sent prayers....I thank you and count myself blessed to have such loving friends!

Always,

♥ Robin ♥

Is April the *Cruelest Month*?

*April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire..*

Thomas Eliot, the Waste Land (with a nod to Geoffrey Chaucer)

April never was a favourite month of mine.. here, it is usually colder, windier and wetter than Winter Months... this year, as my winding road to recovery continues, the first few days have been rough....we have had several huge storms - 30 mph winds, Thunder and Lightning (oh my)...my soon-to- end part time job ends in 10 days...and I won't be sorry to see it go.... it is no fun taking two buses to and from work (and I must work till 8:00 p.m. three nights a week in an unsafe part of the City)....though it's nice to be earning a paycheck, the whole things is downright depressing.  Still, there is a decent place across the street where I can have a nice Latte outside (even while it's storming)...

At Delissios Cafe

There were a few days where I was able to get out for a walk amid my best *Counselor and Friend*....Nature.

As many of you know, the Blogging World is decreasing... mind you, my Blog always had a small group of followers... and now, most of them have left... it is human nature to feel sad when you see old friends have gone...  but, it is Life...  everyone is off *living*...  those of you who do come to visit and actually comment....thank you.  Renee, who was the person to first encourage me to blog - and to post photos (my artistic talent among you  authors, painters and sculptors)...is still with me.  The third anniversary of her death found me in hospital......but I thought of her a lot while I was there...and I continue to think of her know and give thanks for her HUGE open and honest heart and her enormous ability to love....

Gifts from a dear friend... sent all the way from Capetown...

These days, I blog mainly for me....a form of self-therapy... my burns will be with me a long time....but they are healing and soon, when I am able to get out and hike more, I know my feelings will strengthen as my body does.  Hope will return to my soul and perhaps this April will be a remarkable and wonderful one.

* I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills

Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain:

I have seen lady April bringing the daffodils,

Bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain.*

John Masefield

Love,

♥ Robin ♥