Duendesday: almost Spring!

{life with a curious and crazy 10 yr old}

Duende is already making a pile of her favorite Spring books (A Bell for Ursli, Rechenka’s Eggs, Miss Maple’s Seeds, and A Curious Garden to name a few…) and reminding me that yet again, I am late at considering the coloring of eggs for the Vernal Equinox [for Seasonal celebrators – we know the struggle of trying to find either white eggs or egg dye when ‘Easter’ is still weeks away and for some reason I do this struggle dance every year – last minute trying to find something special]. Sometimes we do something different besides dyeing the eggs – last year we emptied out shells and used finetip markers and crayons, a few years I made my own dye (which is only partially worth the trouble because she doesn’t like to eat boiled eggs anyway – just me in this house), and we have been known to make paper eggs to color (both cardboard shapes and paper mache). This year she might be able to hunt outdoors; I think the last time the weather was nice enough she was barely 2.

But it’s been an interesting Winter, between J’s surgery and my Shingles, we’ve been out of commission for a lot of it. And the weather has been temperamental; not nearly enough snow but crazy wind and ice. So, there is a bit of cabin fever (as I’m sure so many deal with, especially this past year). We are in a bit of a waffling warm spell (warm for a few days then the wind brings in below freezing temperatures, and then warm again – which is terrible for late maple tappers like us) but it’s warming up again for this weekend so she is out and about helping Daddy with the maple taps. She loves being up at the Sugar Shack while he’s boiling. She likes to swing from the Ash Tree, climb the White Pine there, jump off the ‘big rock’, chase chickens, pee in the woods, play stickball, and investigate the creek. She builds faerie houses and mini gardens, and makes witchy potions. Outside is good.

Inside is crazy – she’s been arting up a storm (despite the fact that all of our art supplies are boxed up in the other room) and dressing up, too. Right now with the home-reno, she has nowhere to dance either so she’s a bit batty. She’s taken to protesting and hanging up posters everywhere around the house that we should breed our cat (as I look around, there are 5 in this little living room alone), and either watching Star Wars (the original 3) or playing Legos Star Wars (egad).

May your Spring bring opportunity and celebration!