Woman's Best Friend

I'm thinking.   Life rested it massive hand on my shoulder today.  Its imprint rests there this evening.  Yet life, in the very same day, brought gaiety and fun.  That lightheartedness, too, is ringing in my soul.  As I try to make sense of these contradictory feelings, a little comic relief is in order.

Mama, pronounced maMA, found it great fun to wrangle with the deer fence.  The fence I thought would bring the deer to its knees was nothing more than a plaything for the cat.

As I sat in the cold mud in the front yard, seriously pretending to be a real photographer, capturing the daffodils in all their glory, maMA felt it necessary to remind me of her place in the whole scheme of things - that being front and center.

I believe I've finally won a place in her heart.  When I opened the windows last Sunday morning, she bounded up onto the window ledge to keep me company as I cooked breakfast.  In retrospect, she probably just wanted some bacon. 

The golden-eyed princess.  Don't let her know I told you so, but I

think she is every bit as good as man's best friend, actually so much better. 

Tomorrow, final preparations for Easter will begin. I will be reminded of my grandma, her baked ham coming from the aged oven in the basement, coloring eggs at her house on Holy Saturday, and having the best Easter egg hunts ever with all my cousins on Easter Sunday in her big side yard.  What I really loved about my grandma was her insistence that Lent ended at noon on Holy Saturday, which meant EATING CANDY ALL AFTERNOON LONG after a 39 day period of abstinence. 

 Hurray for Grandmas!