Mrs. Teabody Welcomes Unpredictable April



How long have you been awake, Gentle Reader? Mrs. Teabody hopes it was early enough to catch a glimpse of the clear and starry sky because here at Chez Teabody at approximately 5:15 A.M. the Big Dipper was perfectly positioned to appear to be sitting upright on top of the adjacent mountain. Quite special, that. Special enough to warrant bare feet on cool concrete a wee bit too long. All has been put to rights with a pair of wooly socks and a nice hot cuppa "Dirty Chai." This lovely black tea infused with chai spices and enough cracked espresso beans to  slap one into consciousness is the bridge between tea and coffee and a lovely way to get excited about Moody April.

Cool weather has kept buds on spring bloomers tightly furled. The catkins on the pussy willow and the green and yellow of Forcynthia keep close and small and even the green of lawns is far from realized. It's as if Mother Nature wants to remind everyone that she is still in charge. That being said, there are nearly three dozen roses wanting the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Teabody and a generous gift card sent them on a ramble to a nearby garden center for a season's worth of systemic and a "breakfast for  dinner" meal at the International House of Pancakes.  The Teabodys rarely patronize big chain restaurants but both the Waffle House and IHOP are exceptions  as any time of the day is a good time for eggs and one can have real eggs at both establishments. Besides, IHOP do the cutest little pot of tea-- even if it is not tea from Tickle Your Fancy.

Today's plan is to prune and treat roses but  what does April have in mind? April is a moody and unpredictable friend. One day she is sunny and generous, and the very next day she can  decide to drop an errant snowstorm into the path of one's best-laid plans as she did on a Monday two years ago.

Robert Frost knew all about April as he writes in "Two Tramps in Mud Time":


You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You’re one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you’re two months back in the middle of March.

Most days one likes to have a grasp of events, a sense of what's going to happen next but would anyone choose a life devoid of surprises? Who doesn't like to see the beloved face of a too-long-absent friend in one's doorway, unannounced? Who would be churlish enough not to smile  to find a fistful of balloons tethered to one's car door handle? Who isn't awe-struck to walk out onto one's porch pre-dawn on an April morning to spy the most familiar of constellations, the Big Dipper, sitting as big as you please atop the adjacent mountain?

What will unpredictable April bring? Mrs. Teabody eagerly awaits. You should, too.






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