Some Days .......

Snow melting at last, the harsh bitter cold and storms finally gone and over, the morning air crisp but the afternoon sun warm and inviting. It was March end in the Colorado mountains, snow capped mountains still breathing - always snow in the high hills here. But now, signs of life and change in weather made the promise of a beautiful summer ahead. Leon Black and his wife, Joanne, lived in the tiny village, had a small cottage home with some nice acreage around them, she loved her garden and he loved to do his word working outside with the garage door open and his radio blaring out the oldies as he sang out to his favoriate songs.

After lunch, Joanne brought out a pitcher of sweet tea, with the thin slices of lemon floating on the darkly brewed liquid, lots of sugar stirred in, oh, Leon loved his sweet Southern tea. His mother used to make it for him back home in Tennesee, when the summers were so hot even the dogs just lay there in the shade trying not to move, the four hunting animals his daddy had gotten to get rid of the foxes. He sighed with contentment, thinking of the old days back on the farm, the chickens and collecting eggs were his chore, the two big work horses kept in the barn were daddy's and the boys, strong and muscular. "Ahhh, this is more like it, glad to see another winter gone." He said to Joanne as she began to darn a basket of old socks. She smiled nodding, "The garden has to be weeded and raked through so we can start planting the vegetables." She reminded him, nodding toward the rake she'd brought out yesterday. "I hope we get a good crop this summer, corn and tomatoes bring in some xtra money." She said tiredly, they were not young anymore, her back had started to bother her last winter. "do u want some ligament? I have a jar in the bottom of the pantry downstairs." He asked her, as she rubbed her neck and shoulders.

"No, you just rest, maybe later after supper I will go down and start getting the seeds ready, - oh look, the hummingbirds are back." She pointed happily, as two of them fluttered around, looking for the little bowls of sugar water to feed on. Joanne could just sit and watch those little tiny things forever, the rythmic pattern of their wings as they dove in, drank the sweet water and dove out, repeating the pattern. She leaned back in her rocker and continued to darn the socks.

"I am going to build a fence around the chickens soon, foxes are going to be this year apparently. Anton said so down at the hardware store. he says, Leon, those little critters are gonna eat up all your chickens." He told me, and I got the wire for a good price too." Leon added proud.

"And you just gotta believe everything he tells you." Joanne frowned, if it were up to her husband they would be in the poor house. Joanne secretly kept a jar hidden and was saving up for emergencies, adding to the jar now filled with bills and spare change, Joanne was smart and frugal.

"Oh now, dont you worry, itsn't it better to be safe now than sorry later? He beamed at her and drank down his tea.

"Oh I just love Spring, soon the land will be filled with wildflowers, birds, the lakes will be warm, the rivers full. I think this is my fav time of the year." Joanne sighed contendly, her soul filled with joy and the lingering memories of winter behind her now, no more shivering getting up and getting wood in the stove. No more wrapping up with old quilts at night to keep warm, and listening to the wind howling outside the windows, pounding in her eardrums at night keeping her awake as she huddled in her big soft bed next to Leon. She'd met him years before, and on their first date Leon proposed to her, she thought he was plum crazy!! "What? You have to be kidding right? We hardly know each other! She exclaimed as he knelt down and proposed at the restaurant.

"I know that, I also know you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on and we will have an entire life to get to know each other." He announced boldly, grinnng from ear to ear. He held her hand and kissed it gently, how could she say no? It was 1947, not unusual for women to marry and have a family - she couldnt live at home forever and had finished her high school year.

And so, they had married, had three children who were now living on their own, one in college and two married - no grandkids yet, but that was good, Joanne just wanted them to be happy and healthy, and she had a great marriage for the most part, living in Colorado, enduring the harsh cold winters waiting for Spring, spending summer gardening and farming so they could earn enough to survive through the next winter, and so, that was how it went. The life was peaceful, steady, aside from the usual town gossip and the church ladies creating drama, that is the life they shared, and now when Spring came, it was a welcome to see the sunshine warming their land, the birdsong in the air and the blossom of apple trees filling the sky with their pretty pinkness.

They would never trade this life for any other really, what would living in the city be like for them now? None of the beauty and calmness that country living offered them, that was one thing Joanne knew. She darned her socks awhile longer, pulling her hair back into a pony tail, still long at her age, and getting up to start dinner. The windows were opened for fresh air, "And dont forget to get out the rags and help me clean these windows now." Joanne reminded her husband, who now had his eyes closed and softly snoring in the warmth of the sun on their veranda. She smiled.