Day 29: Saturday April 11, 2020: Robins, Graupel, and Painted Rocks
“There’s nothing new under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9 New International Version (NIV)
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Over the past week, I’ve gone through various emotions and they’ve mimicked the weather. Sun and 70; snow; sleet; large hail; and, graupel (more on that later). And so have my emotions been. Some days I just haven’t felt like doing a darn thing. As many have lately pointed out, there have been plagues, and natural disasters, and human-made disasters forever ever and ever and ever. My great-great grandparents lived through the civil war; my grandparents WWI and the Spanish flu; they and my parents through the depression; and, my parents through WWII, the Korean war, and Vietnam, my father having served in all three wars. There is nothing new under the sun, and we will get through this disaster as well. Knowing this has been a comfort. Life goes on.
The Robins know this. I’ve seen them in a flurry of activity this week. They are busy getting ready for nesting season and pulling up worms in the yard. They know that in spite of the weather, spring is on its way and they can count on it. However, as we inch closer to this glorious season, Winter will continue to raise its head and fight for its share of attention. This week I saw something new on my deck. Very tiny pellets. Not snow, not hail, not sleet. I learned its name – graupel: water droplets that freeze on falling snowflakes.
Tomorrow is Easter, and I was surprised this morning with an unexpected “Easter egg.” My husband spotted it as we went for a walk. In the crook of a tree by my driveway, there it was, not a mushroom as he first thought, but a blue painted stone. This tiny gift made my heart sing, as it had clearly been “planted.” Another neighbor had reported something similar in her Nextdoor post. Only now, while writing this, I learn it’s a “thing:” The Kindness Rock Project. I’ll have to read up on it and learn what I’m supposed to do in exchange. What a sweet way for someone in my neighborhood to show they care. Here’s to the children….our future.
