Glad to be back

As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.”

I’ll heartily second that view. Leaving the Valley for more than a few days always gives me a better appreciation for where I live upon my return.

I recently spent a few weeks in an urban environment. The “city life” felt crowded and rushed. There were trees, but not the lush landscapes of home. When I’m away from the mountains, I feel I’m missing something.

I was glad to finally leave the concrete and congestion behind, and get back to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.

Spring hadn’t completely finished sprinkling the landscape with bright new blooms as I got closer to home. Even the mountains looked wonderful in their new green blankets. I welcomed the sight of silos and barns, as well as the new lambs and calves. After weeks of cars speeding past me as if going to a fire and buildings jammed together with little open space, these were refreshing sights, indeed.

There’s nothing better for making me fall in love with the Valley all over again than being gone for a while.

The next time you’ve been away from the Valley, notice when you return whether you appreciate the beautiful place you live just a little more.

~~Colleen

A crocus and a robin bring hope

This is probably my least favorite time of year. The anticipation and excitement of Christmas is past. The days are short and cold. Sickness usually strikes our family at least once.

It’s enough to make me long to hibernate at times, and not come out until the temperatures are back in the 60s.

Two things have given me hope this week that spring is not far away: a crocus and a robin.

I was in my back yard with one of our dogs earlier this week and happened to notice a bright yellow crocus that had pushed its way out of the frozen soil.

This morning, as I ventured out in the gusting winds to get the newspaper, I spotted a robin, the first one I’ve seen since late 2008.

Both these heralds of warmer things turned my mind momentarily away from contemplating another dreary month to envisioning light breezes, daffodils and tulips, and waking to the sound of birds twittering in the trees on a beautiful morning.

Of course, I’m not naive enough to think that mild weather is a mere week or so away. When I first moved to the area 13 years ago, I was astonished that chilly, even snowy, weather lingered into mid-April. Having grown up in the Deep South, I previously took for granted that things warmed up by the end of March.

The anticipation of Spring that a crocus and a robin awake in me is one of the things I love about the Shenandoah Valley. After a long, cold, and sometimes snowy winter, it’s good to look forward to renewal as Creation reawakens.

~~Colleen