The weather has softened. I went to the local Bakery to buy tuxedo cups and a milkshake as thank you presents for my hard working kids and did not even wear a coat. How brazen. A sweater was enough.

The hens explored patches of brown between the melting snow. It was a big shift from last week when they felt marooned by the snow on their ramp and would not come downstairs. 

Ben has had trouble sleeping soundly and there have been some nights that were as chopped up as a kale salad. But I read that local, raw honey taken at bedtime can help, and last night was a ribbon of calm. Amazing.

A friend that I have been corresponding with about the strife in her marriage wrote to say that things are better. They laughed together, and lingered after the children left the table. 

Perhaps we would all have attentive eyes and ears for such subtleties even if we had not just recently felt bereft of warmth and rest and companionship. But then again. 

One time I made a quilt with such similar prints that after chopping up two hundred diamonds and sewing them back together it looked as if nothing had changed. It was disappointing in the extreme. I gave it as a birthday present to someone who probably did not share my sentiments. But the image has remained sharp in my mind, lest I make that mistake again.

Contrast is my friend.