On Saturday we had company. My cousin Mark, his wife and three children arrived in the evening and we all reacquainted ourselves with one another. They were traveling from Michigan to the Gulf coast and were inclined to rest overnight in Nashville. Of course we welcomed them in and invited them to forgo a hotel and sleep at the Kelso Inn for free. It was really good to see all of them and the kids had a great time playing together. His oldest two are 15 and 12 but the youngest is only 4 and they are each a delight in their own very unique ways. Moses and Veronica are mature enough to be enjoyable and unselfish enough to play with the little ones. Little Lucie is pure sunshine and excitement and a willing participant in any activity (including wiping messes up off the floor) that may be happening around her.

Mark, who is taking a photography course offered me a photo he took of an old building in Colon that my mom used to work in before she was married. The Lamb Knit Goods, Co. manufactured children’s pajamas among other things, if I remember right, and mom talked about sewing gussets in all day long. Anyway…the building is pretty much abandoned now and very run down. Mark’s picture is in black and white and shows the very littered front walk and the old trees that guard the premises. The old water tower looms above it and the dark windows and forlorn entry sort of give the building an eerie presence. I’m certain, because I know mom and a lot of her friends and relatives who worked in the building were not given to mournful moods, that the days gone by are not reflected well in the brick and glass that remain. I love the photo…of course it makes me think of mom but it also gives me an illustration of how empty the past can be. Not that we can’t ever look back fondly, but to live there would be futile.

My picture of a picture certainly doesn’t do it justice but you get an idea.

Sunday was a relaxing day, mostly at home, and a beauty in regard to weather. Sure a storm blew in that night, but it waited until we had soaked in the perfection of sunshine and breezes. We needed that sunshine too because the storm brought cold, cold, cold. I wished yesterday, that we had not used up all of our firewood, because I was very chilled. I drove up to Greenbrier to pick up a couple things at Becky’s and it was snowing up on the ridge north of town.

Today does not feel quite so cold and tomorrow promises to warm up again. It is just another Tennessee spring…albeit a little extreme…but completely normal in that it is full of surprise. I love that about spring. Each year there is a test of our patience. As if the air is teasing us by coaxing us to put away all our coats and scarves, and then as soon as everything is stored in boxes, it chortles a polar chuckle and coats our lawns with frost one more time.

We are preparing for our trip to Florida. Apparently, the river heard we were coming this year and in his meandering excitement overflowed his banks. With such lack of control we cannot honor his shores with our presence and must make arrangements elsewhere. We are a smaller crowd this year so finding accommodations elsewhere has not been a problem. We will stay at Kris’ grandparent’s and aunt’s homes and the nice thing about all of that is we will be able to join Grandma and Grandpa at their church on Easter Sunday.

We will follow the reunion with a trip to Lakeland as we often do, and join up with some old friends and family there as well. I’m very much looking forward to it.