Things are happening!

I suppose that's a rather obvious statement, isn't it? Right now, today, I think I'm using it as a bit of an excuse as to why you haven't heard from me in such a long time.

Here in Winnipeg, winter (or winter-like weather), is our longest running season pretty much every year. This year we've broken records not for coldest temperatures, but for how long it has been cold. We still haven't had a night that stayed above freezing and according to my little gardening diary, that's at least 2-3 weeks later than usual.We still have some snow on the ground with flurries forecast for tomorrow.  All this tends to be a little depressing. Everyone I know is sick and tired of winter. In fact, if someone told me they wanted more of this, I think I'd haul off and swat them!

Snow-covered field in February,

 about a 10 minute walk from home

I tend to be a winter hibernator and apparently, this blog was hibernating right along with me. It's time to get active again. In the last couple weeks the push has been on to get ready for some upcoming concerts and guest musician spots. These will mark the first time since my new CD launch back in November that I'll have both recordings for sale.  That in itself will be a bit of an adventure as I never really know how many to bring with me on such a trip. Beyond that sort of detail, I'm really looking forward to meeting people, seeing a part of Toronto I don't think I've ever been to before (the Beaches area) and going back to Ottawa for the first time in almost 30 years.  Where do the years go?

I often think of Natalie Sleeth's song "In the bulb there is a flower" while waiting for spring. You can read the full text at the Hope Publishing site, but here is a brief quote:

In the cold and snow of winter there's a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Out with the old...

The end of one year and the beginning of another is always a time of reflection for me.  There have been years when I found myself wallowing in a bit of self-pity at things that were not accomplished but such was not the case at the end of 2012.  Instead, I realized that a dream had been seen through to completion - that of launching a second recording out into the world. 

One thing that will definitely be different is that the pile of books full of Christmas arrangements, the pile that has been sitting on my Petrof since about November 2011, will now be put back on the shelf.  That feels both very good and very odd at the same time.