Clump #129: Assemble and wrap birthday presents.
Around here, present-giving doesn’t end after December 25th. My younger daughter’s birthday follows quickly on the heels of Christmas … our little Christmas angel. When I was pregnant and due around this time, many people told me all sorts of negative anecdotes about having a birthday on or near Christmas, but she has never seemed to suffer. Maybe because we have always celebrated her half-birthday in June with my husband’s side of the family.
This is a milestone year for us. We will no longer have teenagers in our immediate family. Our younger daughter made teenager-hood too enjoyable a stage, so I’m feeling unexpected sadness …
but our holiday house guests are helping to distract me from it. Here is a snippet of conversation from this morning as I cleared newspapers off of the table to set up for breakfast:
Putting the papers on the chair, below, I said, “Another clump is born.” My older daughter responded, “Welcome to the world little clump.” “Like an acorn growing into a mighty oak,” I replied. My older sister added, “Soon you will be blog-worthy!”
It was a good day to get the clumps out of my head by taking a walk with my husband and niece.
I have the annoying habit of needing to stop frequently to take photos, so it was good to have a nice niece along to keep my husband company while I caught up.
I was impressed by the green popping up through a dusting of snow.
Just when I think I won’t find any beauty in the dull-colored world of winter …
it’s as if Mother Nature dares me not to be swept away by lovely sights.
Beauty in the dead of winter, like sweetness in the fury of adolescence.
Clump A Day 
These are gorgeous, look like they could have come right out of “In Wildness,” that Sierra Club book I was telling you about. You have such a gift! FYI, we were talking at a Brookwood party last night about organizing a trailside trash pickup in the spring, to preserve the natural beauty it’s so easy to take for granted along the trails here in Uwchlan Township. I had one woman make me promise to tell her the next time we organize a work party. Let me know if you know anyone else who would like to be informed. We would start at 8 a.m. on a Saturday in April or May, work for an hour or two, pile our trash at the Jones Pond township park site for pickup later by the township crews. We haven’t picked a date yet.
Sounds like a great idea … count me in!