February

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” ― Augustine of Hippo

My proposed solution to the problem of cedar trees.

Well, I'm still not happy about Doug's upcoming business trip, but I'm through complaining about it (for now).

For the past few days, I've been much more occupied with trying get well and stay well. These weather swings are messing with my body. Highs in the 70s one day and in the 40s the next day. Three days later, we're back to the 70s.

I think I'm just in the February slump. After the excitement of fall and the winter holidays, January feels like a nice slowing-down time. A return to normal. By the time February rolls around, I'm ready for a change again.

Spring is drawing near, which means birthdays and warmer weather and everything turning the most beautiful shades of green. But for now, it's just school and work and cleaning and hardly a hint of green to be seen.

Except for the cedar trees, of course. They stay green and spew their deadly poison pollen all winter! Have you ever seen a cedar tree put out a cloud of pollen? It looks, quite literally, like the tree is smoking. The first time I saw it, I was waiting for the tree to spontaneously combust.

'Cause that's how my mind works.

This is the same mind that saw smoke coming from the top of a house, back at the beginning of fall, and thought, "Oh, no! That house is on fire!" I felt like a total dork once I realized they were just using their fireplace.

(To be fair, we don't see a lot of chimney use in central Texas.)

Anyway, cedar trees. Always green. Frequently smoking. And, with the help of the neighborhood squirrels, they drop these little indigo-colored berries all over. This year has been out of control. We all have cedar berries permanently adhered to the bottoms of our shoes.

Going outside without shoes on is out of the question, even when it's warm. I swept them off the front walk a couple of weeks ago, but that didn't last long. I should take a photo, so you can see what I mean. I dare you to find a square inch of clear pavement on my property!