The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey April 10, 2026

10 April 2026

Springing Back in late March, the first blooms started showing up in the yard. Galanthus nivalis, commonly known as snowdrops, made their appearance in the bed on the south side of the house, where I expect to find the most warmth, and thus the earliest bloomers: Then a few days later, the first Crocus vernus showed up in a front yard sunny bed. Of course, that progress was offset by snow a couple of days ago, about a half an inch on Tuesday afternoon, and another inch overnight to decorate the Wednesday morning landscape: Good news - that didn't even…

Brian Bilbrey April 6, 2026

6 April 2026

Snow Day Not today, but tomorrow, we are expecting an inch or two of snowfall. I don't expect it to stick around, as it's been reasonably warm (low 40's F) for a few days. But still. Snow. Today's 2.5 mile walk with the dog looked promising, earlier in the morning it was partly cloudy and the temps were headed north of 40°... but by the time I broke away from the keyboard, it was cloudy, the wind had picked up, and while the temp was 42°, the windchill had it down in the mid-20's. Sigh. We did the walk and…

Brian Bilbrey March 26, 2026

26 March 2026

Hard Weeks Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly packing up the bulk of Marcia's remaining clothing, fabric and crafting supplies - I've given away as much as I could to friends and family. The clothing went to Good Will. Marcia's friend Brenda tracked down info for me on the local Salvation Army for their annual fabric/sewing/crafting auction - I donated the balance of the fabric and crafting stuff to them. This work has been ... painful. But I've no need to keep all this stuff, and it'll go to people who can use it, so that's good. There's…

Brian Bilbrey March 14, 2026

14 March 2026

Still Winter Yes, yes, on Monday last we got up into the 60's and it was the first shorts day of the year for walking the dog. But then it started getting colder again, and I was up this morning at 0630 to shovel snow before heading out for the weekly shopping expedition. Next weekend, more snow, after a few days with overnight lows back into the teens. Sigh. I'm still working through the grieving process, too. The spikes of severity seem to be slightly less frequent, but I'm still in a predominantly tenebrous space. I find myself across the…

Brian Bilbrey February 22, 2026

22 February 2026

Condolences For my brother-in-law, Michael Ellison, who passed last Monday after a short battle with an aggressive cancer, rest in peace. My thoughts are with my sister Barbara and their adult children, Rob and Alex. Over the next five days, I'm expecting over a foot of snow. Two big days, Monday and Friday, and two light days, Wednesday and Thursday. So plenty of opportunity exercise through snow shoveling in my near future. Not terribly surprising, since that bloody rodent saw its shadow. Last year, the six extra weeks of winter were 12 extra weeks up here in the northern reaches.