Old Order Mennonite Memoirs

With heavy eyelids and burning eyes brought on by daylight saving time, we also bounced back and forth like a ball. March, with unpredictable moods, bounced us between winter and summer. But we're adapting. I'm always amazed at the resiliency of the human body and how it recovers and adjusts to changes.

Sunshine, with powerful heat, beamed on our Monday, March 9. The garden soil begged for seeds so I obliged. I dropped the little, shriveled bits into my scratched rows where they wait for a miracle wrought by the power of God.

The next day wasn't so sunny or warm but the greenhouse, with all its little plants, begged for attention from our daughters who also came to celebrate our middle daughter's birthday. Besides cake and fruit we had a steak and mashed potatoes meal with peas. Everyone loved the salad but food for my guests lost the attention when flowers came to our door for the birthday girl.

Even more chilliness came on Wednesday when I had four little girls and boys at our house. The boys loved to play in the sandbox and bike around, but they had to come in to warm up occasionally. The little girls and I also went outdoors once but that was after we had a real time of boots and shoes that made little stocking feet feel ticklish. After much girlish grief and different socks, we finally were able to go outside for a little bit. Winter has only a few more days and spring will let little winter-weary girls go without footwear.

The sun came out on Thursday when I went to my sister's house to help with her quilt. From inside the window, we watched wistfully as our dad hiked the mountainside with my brother-in-law. The bright sun called me as it shone through the leafless trees onto the brown forest floor. I wanted to be there just in case a mourning cloak butterfly would hatch and take off in its erratic flight.

The next day was so windy my laundry didn't want to stay on the lines. My husband bucked the mighty mountain gusts with his bike, but when he came to the door, Red Cross had a "sorry" sign for him. The day before they begged him to give double red, with no mention of the next day's cancellation due to the Coronavirus. Maybe we need to "learn the blessedness of the unoffended in the face of the unexplainable," as Amy Carmichael wrote.

The sunshine for Saturday was measly and my hands grew cold when I was outdoors. Although some youth from Michigan were in the area, I did not hear of a singing.

Sunday morning was beautiful with a coating of whiteness for the greening grass. The robins didn't seem to mind as they hopped cheerily in the fray of the battle of seasons. The late winter snow kissed the tightly-closed crocus petals in my garden and the summits of Lock Mountain as we began our trip to Piney Creek church. When we emerged from the worship services, it was all gone. At noon when granddaughter Bella, age 17 months, sat at our table with her parents, the sun came out in a clear blue sky. It was perfect weather for our nephew and his wife to bike to town for the viewing of Bill Cowan while I had a short, sweet time with their two children.

In fact, the whole afternoon was too short. John Burroughs wrote: "I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and wonder of the world."

Henri Frederic Amiel wrote: "Life is short and we never have enough time for gladdening the hearts of those who travel the way with us. O be swift to love! Make haste to be kind."

I like these two sayings but I think "a Christian ought always to look forward, for to him even death is an adventure, a tryst with his lover; and eternity is his great goal."

"Nearer home, yes, one day nearer, To our home beyond the sky, To the green fields and the fountains, In our Father's home on high, For the heav'ns are growing brighter, And the lamps hang in the dome, And our hearts are growing lighter, For we're one day nearer home."

~Alice Carey