spring

at long last, i return.  it has been a brutal winter... too much illness, too much death. 

with spring's arrival, things are beginning to look brighter, and my life is returning to a steadier, calmer rhythm.  

i have learned much during this dark, cold winter... hard, valuable, primal lessons that will serve me well as my life continues its steady progress toward its inevitable end.  lessons we try so hard to avoid, to push aside, but that always seem to find us wherever we may hide.

lesson one, regarding grief and mourning...

"it hurts just as much as it is worth."

 ~ attributed to writer Julian Barnes