What's Going On Outside?

This morning was chilly - the temperature today only made it to the high 40s.  Mixed rain and snow was in the forecast, with periods of gusty winds.  The blossoms of redbuds, dogwoods, tulips and forsythia looked a little out of sorts.

Around 10 o'clock I was in the middle of a yoga class.  The studio has a wall of windows that the students face but are at my back.  I gave an instruction for tree pose, and a student pointed out the window and said something that I didn't catch to her neighbor.  Then other students' attention was pulled out the window as well.  "What's out there?" I asked.  "Snow, blowing sideways," was the response.

Ahh, Spring!

What's Going On Inside?

Yesterday I had a lunchtime meeting, so it was about one o'clock when I went downstairs (well, down-elevator) to get a sandwich.  When I got back to my office, I sat down to eat and scan through some old documents (from 1990) that I'd found in my files.  I found it difficult to read - the page seemed bright and a bit disorienting, like those patterns that make you dizzy to look at.  After struggling a bit, I realized it wasn't the document, it was something in my head - creating a region of blurred vision.  When I closed my eyes I saw the same shape - very bright - and very not normal for me.  After 30-45 minutes, my vision gradually returned to normal, but I felt a little dizzy, or lightheaded.

An afternoon of tests and monitoring failed to reveal any problem.  Today I've felt tired and just a bit 'off,' but nothing specific.  I hope another good night's sleep will continue the improvement.

Spring Progress

The cherry blossoms and magnolias are nearly gone now.  In their place, the redbuds are in full bloom - more fuschia than red - and the dogwoods have, all of a sudden, begun to flower.

This post, from April 14, 2014, shows that the spring blooming is perhaps two weeks earlier this year.  In 2015, my post about dogwood and redbud was from April 20, though things were farther along than they are now.

Life has to deal with lots of variability this time of year.  Temperatures were in the 70s today, but it will freeze tonight and then top out in the high 40s tomorrow.  I noticed this evening that the rhubarb has just begun to come up.

Sometimes, we know, the variability is too much.  It's too cold for too long, and the fig trees die back.  It's warm too early, coaxing the trees to bud and then get nipped by a bitter cold snap.  In the end, there's a certain pattern to spring, but a lot of difference in the details that makes each year unique.

Taking it Easy

My top priority for today was finishing the data entry for our income tax return.  I had intended to work more on it last Saturday, but let myself be pulled into recording a meditation for my yoga website and figuring out how to modify my site and load the audio file.  I'm glad I did that, as it moves me along with my yoga teaching goals, but it also made it even more important to finish the taxes this weekend, as I'll be busier for the next two, and then the taxes are due.

This year I had additional complexity with my yoga income and expenses,  I also had some investment information to enter, and that often leads to some frustration as I hunt for some piece of information that isn't available on the statements, or face a question from the tax software that I don't fully understand.

Overlaying all this detail is the fact that I never know how long it will take, or whether I'll get part way through and get stuck.  These uncertainties are often the root of my not wanting to sit down and start.  Doing the taxes seems hard.

Sitting at the table after breakfast, finishing my coffee, the thought occurred to me that there's nothing about the taxes that is hard.  It only seems hard because I'm looking at it as a single thing.  But it's really a lot of small things, and none of them are particularly hard.  Looking something up, creating a little spreadsheet to total some numbers, entering data into the forms.  Broken down into small enough steps, each step is easy.

And so, a few hours later, I was done.  I had to take a few detours and work on some pieces before I could enter them, but it wasn't hard.  I chose to let it be easy.