Wrenaissance Reflections

A week ago, I was all “bah, humbug!” about spring. And why not? With all that white stuff on the ground, temps below freezing, and Michigan’s renowned gray skies, a change of season seemed much more than two weeks away.

I saw the light. The sunlight.

While there’s still a skim of ice on Lake Wrenaissance, it no longer holds snow and the ice has begun to creep away from the shore. We may reach 60 degrees (F) this weekend.

Daylight Savings Time has made the days light longer into the evening.

We saw a Canada Goose walking behind the deck. Not as thrilling as the first robin as a harbinger of spring, but the geese disappeared when the water froze and haven’t been around for the past few months. It’s so much nicer to see them flying north instead of south.

Yes, I believe in Spring.

I was surprised to realize that it’s been four years since I last blogged. I didn’t intend to stop, but I did intend to prioritize other activities more than blogging. It seems I was successful at that. So it goes. If you read this blog in its earlier iterations, you know I’m fond of the quote attributed to John Lennon, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.”

While I was making other plans, a lot of life happened. I lost both my parents in 2015. We downsized from a too-large house to a condo in 2017, and I retired from a successful career last fall, 2018. I’m four years older, as are Mr Wren and my cats, but the birds and squirrels outside my windows seem to be gifted with eternal youth. I’m still in the cold midwest, though I hear that if I hang around long enough, I’ll see Michigan become the new California.

I’m on a journey of exploration. For the first time in decades, I don’t have a roadmap for the trip. I’m looking for a compass, or many compasses, but also for the courage to step forward with no guidance and see what I stumble into.