Thousands of words

I've been more miss than hit with my photo-a-day project because my heart hasn't been in it. My heart hasn't been in a lot of things lately. Yet, were it not for this project I wouldn't have grabbed my camera when Elise, Samuel and I went for a quick errand/walk in the neighborhood. It's just like the game hide-and-seek. Sure we can all stumble upon beauty, but searching for it frames the mind to recognize it in unexpected places.  I love this picture.

March 24. The path that goes along the left building, retreats into the shadows and then comes back forward toward the railing is the access ramp to a physical therapy clinic. No pain, no gain!

March 25.

March 26.

March 27. Jeff's 4:30 train pick-up. (He was still on driving restrictions.) Did you grow up on KJQ like I did? "It's 4:30, time for milking."

March 28. Emma flaunts her parking prowess.

March 29.

March 30. The trouble with trying to get little boys ready for 1 p.m. church is that there is way too much time to dig before meetings start.

March 31. Jeff and his neurosurgeon. We like this guy. Jeff liked the doctor even more when he gave the green-light to drive again. Naturally, instead of taking his usual train the next day, Jeff drove all the way to Riverton.

April 1. Snow!

April 4. My dear friend Nora and her baby, born March 30.

April 6.

April 7. Elise won $25 in an essay contest.

April 9. Emma adjusts the elastic on her pointe shoes.

April 11. Bee's knees. 

April 12. Prom nonchalance. Kyle was excited, but not even a tux-wearing dude in the kitchen could pull Jeff away from his laptop, nor Emma from her baking.

April 16. One of my favorite gardens in town. 

April 17. Front yard.

April 18.

April 19. Possibly Elise's last community Easter egg hunt. I wish she could stay little!

April 20. Rhubarb becomes the first garden-to-dish of the season.

 April 21. Fish at Red Butte Garden.

More of the same

March 1. Light fixtures.

March 2. Kyle and Jeff in the ER of hospital #1, at the beginning of Jeff's adventure.

March 3. Beep! Your patient is ready. 

March 4.  The hazardous waste bag holding Jeff's shaved hair. Yes, we kept it.

March 5.  James and adorable cousin Zooey, who came with her mom and sister from St. George to help us.

March 6. The children and I came home from the hospital to the bathroom vacant (obviously!) but locked. James helped me pull out the hinge pins so we could remove the door and tackle the lock that way. Amazingly, he and I worked faster together than Jeff and I have on other bathroom impasses!

March 7. Jeff received an elaborate cookie basket from his work. "Wishing you a speedy recovery!" Did I read too much into having a turtle as such a mascot?

March 8. Hat shopping at REI.

Also March 8. Around the corner from REI is a climbing outfitter where Jeff went to buy rope in preparation for a class he was scheduled to teach March 15. It was all I could do to not yell at the clerk, "Don't sell him anything! He just got home from the hospital yesterday after having BRAIN SURGERY! Because he fell! Did you hear me? BRAIN SURGERY!" The Fight Gravity hoodie is a nice touch. The class, held in a church gym, was about knots and harnesses, not actual climbing. Phew!

March 10. Home office.

March 12.

March 15. Samuel is passionate about soccer.

March 16. Samuel and bubbles.

March 17. My mother makes delicious corned beef and cabbage and homemade Irish soda bread on St. Patrick's Day, even though we're not Irish. I've made the meal myself a time or two over the years, but was decidedly not festive this go-round. No matter. James fashioned a forkful of tri-color pasta into the Irish flag. Bonus: his Oompa-loompa coloring evokes images of tiny, dancing men. No?

March 18. Ah, that's better. Last morning of braces! (Until phase two, anyway.)

March 19. First bloom in the yard.

March 20. This is not a political statement, I swear, just a composition exercise to capture the entire scene of what I saw one morning when I sought peace. Can you tell where I am? (The sticker says GUNS SAVE LIVES.)

March 21. Samuel wrote only an S for his name on this worksheet. When the teacher handed it back with the quizzical "S am?" Samuel wrote oui in response. Cracked us up.

March 22. Jeff's normal Saturday routine is to get up and drive out of dodge as fast as he can.  He likes errands! Having doctor's orders not to drive ...  well, drove him insane. When I awoke Saturday morning Jeff was whipping the pantry into shape. Samuel excitedly told James, "Mom says this is what 'cabin fever' looks like."