Susan Says . . .

— Despite the fact that cold weather has lingered, the daffodils out in front of the old storage building have begun to bloom. Defying the elements, they rear their cheery yellow heads and provide a bright note on otherwise gloomy days. We had some warmer weather near the end of last week but blustery winds insured it was still more comfortable to remain indoors. We are encouraged that the calendar promises spring will arrive at mid-March. Jim’s been talking about getting the garden spot plowed and he’s already counting the weeks until morels make an appearance.

Celestine Sibley, author of A Place Called Sweet Apple, wrote that her neighbor said she was “fretted” by March. “Of all the months, she said, it’s the most exasperating - neither winter nor spring but a shifty, weaving, capricious changeling that offers you jonquils with one hand and plunges an icy dagger between your shoulder blades with the other. She does not plan to open her door or even look out her window until March has reached some kind of maturity and started behaving with proper consistency.” Sibley agrees that the ice on the ground and the wind don’t invite you to linger outdoors “but the color of the sun and sky won’t permit you to sit too long by the fire.”

A young Girl Scout added a bright spot to the dayMonday when she delivered the packages of cookies I’d ordered. Cookies and other sweets are welcome accompaniments to our coffee and hot tea on these chilly days.

Wednesday morning I cooked two pounds of lima beans with chopped onions and bits of ham. I had a call from brother Richard and then joined friends at the Senior Center for our February J.G.T. Club meeting. We had an interesting program and a satisfying meal of beef stew, lima beans, fruit salad andstrawberry pie. That evening we enjoyed a healthy meal of chicken stir-fry before watching the Hogs game against LSU. The good food failed to soften the blow of our team’s loss to the Tigers.

I visited the dentist’s office to get my teeth cleaned at midmorning Thursday and went home to find a letter from Aunt Mary. Richard was working in town and dropped by Thursday evening but we couldn’t persuade him to stay for supper. I attended a meeting with Jim before watching one of my favorite Olympic events, the women’s figure skating.

I worked at the office a few hours Friday morning and niece Laura dropped by for a short visit after I returned. She had a little time before picking up her son at school and taking him for a doctor’s appointment.

We made a trip to Hiwasse after breakfast Saturday morning, then dropped by to visit Nancy’s neighbor but found no one at home. We drove to the home where Jim’s been working so he could show me the progress made the past week and returned just in time to watch the Razorback basketball game. We were disappointed that they suffered another loss. I baked a pan of cinnamon rolls and iced them before preparing spaghetti and garlic bread for supper.

We picked up a friend and drove to Southwest City Sunday morning but arrived a little too late for breakfast. Heavy frost covered the ground that morning but the weather warmed a little in the afternoon and Jim worked on the new patio cover while I was doing laundry. We finished in time to watch the final minutes of the last Olympic hockey game. Olympic events have kept us enthralled the last two weeks and we’re sorry to see them end.

-Susan Holland

Susan Holland, who works for The News Herald, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 03/03/2010