Leaping Towards Spring

As we pass with the gracious addition of one more day into the month of March, it truly is feeling like we are entering maaliskuu (Finnish for earthy month as the earth starts to show from under the snow). The weather is balmy by all comparisons, the ground is moist and losing its tundra-like temperatures, and the deciduous trees are beginning to unfurl their ends into pollen releasing wonders. To say nothing about the Juniper (Ahh-chooo!).


The Ides of March, St. Patricks Day, the Vernal Equinox, and Easter will all be upon us just as quickly as ever.

It's been quite a week.

Between getting sick while traveling, returning home to extremely sick children, and thinking that this is now the second trip of the season where timing has been horrible, I've spent some serious time wondering why sickness is necessary at all.

I grew up with a mother who believed that to say "I'm sick" was to accept the plight of sickness for the time it took for the sickness to come in, arrive in the body, set up camp, do its business, decide to move out, and for health to once again arrive. It was suggested to me to never say "I'm sick." In fact it was suggested that I never even say things like "I'm sick and tired of..." because even such a benign statement as that could invite sickness into the body, which would thus overrun and cause all sorts of maelstrom-like activities to occur within the body.

Interestingly, as I've aged, and been sick many more times than I can count (fortunately nothing beyond the normal sick stuff...), this advice has managed to get stuck in my psyche. When the first twinges of illness show their nasty little tendrils, instead of saying, "I feel awful" or "Uh oh, here it comes, that nasty crud that's been going around," my first instinct is to say "I WILL NOT GET SICK!!!!!" Followed by a whole slew of curse words in my head.

Being a Mama, getting sick is akin to being chained to floor and having your children jump on your stomach endlessly, so essentially, getting sick is not an option, at least not for more than a few minutes. When it really happens, God forbid, then may blessings fall at the feet of the Mama at hand so that life can progress forward without any ill effects.

This advice my Mother doled out while I was a kid who was secretly hoping for sickness so as to avoid that mandatory necessity called school ,has actually proven effective. At least in comparison to others I know. On average, I've found that my illnesses last fewer days than those around me (non-mothers, of course). Of course this may be attributed to the arsenal of herbs and other supplements that I flood my bloodstream with, but I tend to take the superstitious view and place the result on my attitude.

With all that, I'm thankful that for today, at least, during this lovely pre-spring day, I was feeling better, even while nursing my little ones back to health.

Now those gardens are another topic...