Walnuts n Pears

A, B, C, D… sing with me… E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P… Q, S, R…  T.  What?!?

Okay, we all know the alphabet doesn’t stop at T.  So what happened to U through Z? Perhaps you wonder why I lost my momentum? Maybe you don’t wonder at all.  But I’m gonna tell ya anyway.

Spring sprung in Minnesota.

For those of you who live in a warm climate you might be saying to yourself “So what?!”, but for those of us who live in the arctic tundra (although this year really didn’t count as arctic or tundra) we go into our caves (a.k.a. houses) in about October and hibernate for about six or seven months.  We peer out of our windows all winter long waiting for a sign from above telling us that it’s safe to come out.  Those signs come in the form of melting snow, buds, blossoms and birds migrating North.  Once the robins appear, we think we’re safe.  We cautiously poke our heads out of our doorways, clinching our teeth as we await one last cold blast from the North.  When the frigid wind doesn’t come, we slowly move forward, easing ourselves through the doorway, looking left and right for other signs of life.  All the while leaving one foot in the door so it doesn’t shut behind us “just in case” that last Alberta Clipper quickly whips around the corner and smacks us in the face.  However, the foot trick doesn’t always work.  That arctic blast usually causes a ricochet effect starting with our face, then rapidly moving through our bodies, snapping every, single, muscle into rigidity a Colonel would be proud of.  Unfortunately, that includes the foot, which then releases the door, allowing it to slam shut and latch behind us leaving us stranded, outside, unprepared for the hypothermic chill that is about to set in over our bodies in record time.

But we didn’t get that this year.  In fact, we didn’t even have snow to watch melt.  Instead, we just peered out the windows and waited.  We waited until about a month ago, when spring came early.  Actually, winter went right into summer, and then Mother Nature came to her senses and we went back to “normal”.  Anyway, about two weeks ago, when everyone poked their heads out of their caves they were greeted with mildness.  Actually, we were greeted with mild weather most of the winter, which is probably what caused the distrust we were having for spring.  We kept waiting for that one last nasty blast of cold, but we never got it.  Anyway, as you looked down Minnesota streets the past couple of weeks, you could see a series of heads poking out, surprised to see other heads poking out.  Then full bodies emerged.  Followed by even more bodies.  Before you knew it, people were everywhere.

Then it happened… mowers fired up, people started cleaning out gardens and planting, and then… the phone started ringing.  And I started running!  Not in the running for my health sense, but as in running to keep up sense.  And I love it.  However, spring and running, tend to leave me little time to blog, at least not much during the daylight hours.  In the spring I become more of a vampire blogger and so it will remain until, well, we all get blasted by that first arctic chill of the fall.

So what happened to the rest of the alphabet?  It’s simple really.  Spring sprung, life got busy, I got busy and although I tried my darndest, I couldn’t cram any more hours into the day, so my A-Z April Challenge ended with T.  Am I proud?  Nope.  Am I a titch frustrated with myself?  Yep.  In fact I’m really bothered by the fact that my alphabet went from A to T, and that I even managed to transpose a couple of letters in the middle due to an oversight in realizing one of them never went “live”, but because I have a couple of fun posts in the works to wrap it all up, I will complete the alphabet.  Later.

That’s right, the end of the alphabet is coming.  When you least expect it.  When you’re all nestled safely in your beds, all of a sudden there will be a U, then a V, followed by W, X, Y and finally Z.  So when you’re resting, rest well, but keep one eye open for the vampire blogger because you never know when she might strike.

Kate