crashing planes and sweating feet

It's confusing. Planes are crashing all over the place, people in LA are just pulling carrots of the ground, and I'm seeing the ground here for the first time in months. Yes, the few days of weather above freezing have melted all the snow here and all of a sudden it feels like there's so much SPACE and I can't stop looking at the exposed ground, the wet smashed leaves and dirt and the slick branches except to look away to look at pictures taken in May. May last year, May the year before, and Mays years back, and I don't even believe that this place can turn into that place in a mere three months. At the same time, there's no way I can wait three whole months. The sun has felt amazing and the days, though they've been getting longer for a while, finally FEEL like they're getting longer. You can actually feel the sun hitting your skin because the moisture in your skin isn't so busy freezing. And my feet are actually hot in my shoes and I can't wait to expose my pale feet. And other people in the 'hood are complaining about flip flops, as if the opportunity to wear flip flops isn't one of the most delicious things. Especially right now, when we can see the ground for the first time in what feels like a frozen lifetime of news of crashing planes.

These pictures are my compost path, which I shovel religiously but finally gave up on this year and just slip slid my way. I did not give up on the little path I shovel for my mail carrier, since he's older and a bit fragile, and I'd hate my laziness to be the cause of a slip and fall. The other picture is the side yard in May, when all the colors are clashing and ridiculous and you can't help but feel happy at the over-the-top fluffiness of it all.