#3

It is a rainy morning. One that makes me wish I liked coffee. I have been trying to walk each morning, but I draw the line at rain. Until someone invents windsheild like wipers for glasses anyway. Still, rain is more spring-y than the snow we got Sunday night.

It has been a pretty cold spring. That is not a scientific statement, just my opinion. Alright, I just verified it by looking at the weather calendar on wunderground. In April, one day has been above average hot and 9 have been below average cold. So it has been cold. The one day that was above average warm though was fabulous. It was in the 70's last Monday, after a rainy Sunday which made most of the grass green. Now it is cold enough that the grass won't grow much. Which makes for very neat looking lawns! I was driving to the dump yesterday and I noticed that almost every one's lawn looks manicured. The grass is all the same height with no unruly weeds to be seen. Like the closely cropped grass of Kentucky horse pastures, which I always thought was the epitome of loveliness. Until I was old enough to concede that nature had a right to be messy and out of control, anyway. Our jolly neighbors who go in for yelling fits, have never been afflicted with a manicured lawn complex. Or don't appear to have been. They seem to belong to the school of thought that believes in treating broken things with peace and tranquility. None of the indignities of the trashcan and the harsh parting at the dump for their broken bits. They do their part to keep American landfills from being overcrowded. So far, we don't suffer from an overzealous what-do-you-call-it who comes and tells us to make our lawn look nice. Which is okay by me. Still, there are times when I wish there weren't quite so many broken bikes and falling apart strollers across the street. However, we can view it as a bastion of American rights. Hi-ho for trash! (Is bastion the right word? You know what I mean--a holdout, not caving in to societal pressures)
After the dump, we went down to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid for a jaunt. I had extensive plans for shopping, but we got distracted by the Lake Placid library and spent a wonderful hour there. I love that library. It is part of our library system, so we can check out books. Check out lots of books. And they have a continuous book sale which is always fun. And they have a wooden dollhouse in the children's section. AND all these four levels are all overlooking the lake with huge picture windows and window seats. Happiness! I happen to love the library in Malone too. All that stone with marble steps. Seems so quaintly regal. I just really like libraries actually. They are one of my pet government subsidised programs. Yesterday I had so many books, the clerk checked them out in the computer and then had me stamp the due date in. Which is another childhood dream fulfilled. I remember doing it for hours with a stamp we had from somewhere. Most of Mom and Dad's books are ex-library anyway, so they already had the little due date thingy.
As an exhibit of the balance I have gained in my life I would like to point out that I drove past THREE Rite-Aids yesterday and didn't stop once. For full disclosure, I was running late AND I fully intend to go to RA when I go the dentist today. Still, it is a start. I am no longer a rabid couponer! (Spell check would like me to spell that coupon er.)

Here are some pictures from spring!