This weekend my daughter and I strolled through Lithia park during a lunch date. It was an especially cold day; as we walked past the lower duck pond, we noticed that it was encased with a thick layer of ice.

I have a ritual of sneaking into my daughter’s room before I settle into bed for the night.  I make sure the covers are just right, give her a kiss on the cheek and say a little prayer for sweet dreams. For a long time, she would coo and roll over, continuing on her dream time journeys.

I have a lot of dirt under my fingernails these days. This happens every spring, once the winter darkness gives way to the longer days, and the garden begins to awaken. My wife and I spend lot of time in the spring getting the garden beds ready. We weed, trim, spread compost, mulch, and make sure the irrigation is ready for the coming heat.

One of my best friends from college used to have a Volkswagen bus.He would spend hours tinkering with his engine in the driveway of the house we rented with some friends.He wasn’t an expert mechanic, but he found great joy in figuring things out.It was a sort of puzzle that led to a lot of satisfaction when he got his van working just right.

Years ago while traveling in Tibet, I was amazed by the dryness of the climate. Though the mountains were covered with snow, and the rivers were raging torrents, the ground was largely a dusty wasteland.

My father lived on a lake.Before he built his house near the lake shore, the wooded lot was a favorite picnic and party spot for trespassing revelers.It had a nice little beach for swimming and its location offered good views of the lake.

My grandmother used to collect snow globes.  As part of her seasonal decorations, they made their appearance for the month of December and then found their way to a box once the new year rolled around. 

One of the first things that my wife and I did when we moved to our mountain home was to cancel the pest exterminator services.The previous owners had used the exterminator for years with “great success, “ as evidenced by the lack of bugs around the house.

My daughter didn’t get her first taste of sweets until she was almost a year old.  My wife and I knew that once she tasted sweet it would change her relationship to food, so we figured that our daughter couldn’t crave what she didn’t know about.  When the day came, we decided that to start her out with a small spoonful of honey. 

The other day while I was driving my car, I began to hear a rattle that I hadn’t heard before.  Since my car is 15 years old, I had gotten used to new rattles showing up.  My usual remedy is to find the rattle and push on it, or give it a knock with my hand.  Sometimes this works, other times I just have to find a way to let it be.