Quote de jour
"Don't seek truth, just drop your opinions."

It was a snow day today. Eight inches of the fluffy white stuff brought life to a halt.  Schools closed and if you didn't need to go anywhere, you didn't.  All I wanted to do was curl up in a cocoon of warmth like the butterfly I saw last week. Was it only last week that I walked bare-legged in the garden? When I felt the ground sink, mushy fecund beneath my slippers? I lingered in the garden, dazed by the sudden warmth, looking for signs of new life.

Snow drops reached for the sky.

Furry magnolia buds sunbathed.

A cardinal danced on dried weeds. A blink later, he was gone. I blinked. Was I seeing things? The brown leaves moved. Wait, dried leaves don't have blue spots. And butterflies don't appear in February in New York, or do they?

My initial delight of seeing butterfly faded fast. How will she survive the coming snow? A worse thought entered my mind. Someone I knew was going to die. The butterfly was after all, called a mourning cloak. Sometimes, it's tough being intuitive. The following day, a friend's mother died. The wake was yesterday. All signs of life in my garden are now buried under snow. For now.


春有百花秋有月    The spring flowers, the autumn moon;

夏有涼風冬有雪    Summer breezes, winter snow.

若無閑事挂心頭    If useless things do not clutter your mind,

更是人間好時節    You have the best days of your life.