Beginning Another February

This morning I reflect on the start of another February. After reading my journal entries from February 2012 and my blog entry from last February it seems clear to me that the year went by very quickly.It also seems to me that it is a gift to be given another year and a gift to have the time to reflect the year's passing. As we live out our days they can often seem challenging or difficult at the time but when you look back at them they are rich with lessons we have learned and blessings we've received. Burton and I often joke about our wood supply which is supplied entirely from his time , energy and hard work.( he loves splitting wood by hand) This year the ongoing joke was that he almost had January's wood in as each rank was given a month and March and February kept being sacrificed for January. Every weekend he would add more to the January rank from a rich supply of dead maple so thoughtfully provided by a family of beavers a few years ago,that flooded an area killing all the maple trees standing in their path. Well we did it Hon!

We got through January as we have for the last 25 years in this house always facing the challenge of heating it's rooms with hard work and a positive attitude. I tear up thinking how that same outlook has carried us through so many challenges that have been much more daunting than keeping the furnace stocked.This February brings the revisions of The Sewing Basket which will be released in the spring. Last February I went through the same process with Ten Thousand Truths and the February before with The Year Mrs. Montague Cried.What more could a retired teacher who always dreamed of being a published author ask for?So here we go February. Today after the heavy winds and rain the last day of January brought, the ground is bare but I am sure many more cold and snowy days are ahead . I will take the time I am given to write and revise while at the same time take comfort in the ranks of wood now assigned to February and March and comfort in the fact that just as in the February's past, lessons and blessings await.