~still growing, still changing~

The zinnia seeds that I planted two weeks ago before the weird weather of last weekend hit have shown no signs of sprouting but then again, they have shown no signs of dying either.  So with faith, I keep the soil moist and an eye upon the outdoor pots that they were sown into.  Some day there will perhaps be the evidence of one of my favorite plants of the summer sprouting or else, well or else I'll just be buying more seed to replace them.  The seed potatoes that I brought back from Kansas nearly a month ago were sprouting like crazy in their brown paper bag  by the back door and I had to get them into the ground soon or lose them.  Last weekend, just prior to the "what the heck kind of weather was  THAT?" episode of Sunday morning, I quickly put them into small beds of soil just outside the bedroom window.  Not sure if they will make it or not either, but yet once again with faith I continue to hope that some time I will see their emerald green signs of life come forth.  Weather has that uncanny ability to "change on a dime" anywhere in this world of ours and south western Colorado is no exception.  I spent my whole life in Kansas for crying out loud, I should remember that.  And just for the record as if you didn't know already :), I LOVE Kansas.

Seems hard to imagine, nearly impossible to believe that it will soon be one year that I have lived here along the Western Slopes.  Last summer was a "not so much" kind of happy time for me as I struggled to find my way here.  This summer will be different for me and I know that just like all of the plants I attempted to put into the ground to make me happy, I have begun to put down some roots for myself.  It's a lot easier to be content and at peace, to feel as if you belong some place other than where you have always been, if you can plant your feet firmly into the soil.  It took me a long time to realize that yet once I did, life became exponentially easier.  I believe that's a sign that things are getting better for me.  Do you think?

Last night before we called it a "day" and headed to bed, I told Mike that I would probably start hauling the geraniums out during the day to get them used to the outdoors once again.  Those crazy things, plants that pretty much stubbornly sat in their 5 inch pots and did nothing all last summer, took off during the winter months as they sat in the warm sunshine of the east kitchen window.  I laughed to myself as I just typed those words because they remind me so much of their caretaker :)  I was no different than they were in those initial days of life here.  Hey, we finally grew.  We ALL do.  Each in our own time and each in our way. 

You know I'm not sure what life will bring me in the future here in the Rocky Mountains but I guess no matter where a person lives that would indeed be the case.  Last summer I worried about the unknown a lot, so much so that it nearly did me in.  This summer, I would love to believe that I have way more faith that what is supposed to happen to me will indeed be so. 

For all of the friends I have made here along the Western Slopes since I arrived last June, I am surely thankful.  My "Olathe Family" has been my anchor and without them, life would have been a bit of a struggle.  Each day as I walked into the doors of a fine school known as Olathe Elementary, I have felt welcomed, needed and much cared about.  What a privilege it has been to work alongside each and every one of them.  I could not have asked for a better experience or environment to spend my 36th year of education in.  I will always be beholden to them, all of them.  When we leave for the summer, in not all that many days now, I will miss them.  But we are friends now and to THIS once very lonely and homesick flatlander, that means everything.

How about it....are you still growing and changing too?  Sometimes it's a little painful, sometimes a necessary "evil" but in all things, it's good for all of us.  I love you dear friends and family.  This morning, from a place so very far away, I am thinking of you all.

"Perhaps they shall grow, perhaps they shall die in the soil before they even have a chance to grow up.  Was it time wasted?  Not in the least."

"Although I never dreamed that I would be, I am so thankful to have been an "Olathe Pirate" this year.  What a great experience it has been for me.

"Can you believe it?  Soon to celebrate one year of life together with 'the blessing'.  How the two of us have grown and changed together."