April Note to Readers

Life's little surprises...

​Sometimes you wake up on a Spring morning and there’s snow—lots of it!—as many of you have been experiencing. Me, too.

I woke up on this fair Sunday excited to get over to the plant nursery and pick out flowers for the pair of urns I have outside my front door. (I’m thinking a tall spiky plant for the center, surrounded by begonias or geraniums if they have them yet, alternating with soft feathery Mexican Heather to fill in the space and hang over the edge.) But lo and behold, my container gardening plans fizzled as I woke up to find a coating of snow all over the ground.

The expectant mother robins perched in my apple tree (which is covered in buds—I can hardly wait to see all those pink blooms) looked extremely annoyed. I swear their little beaks were frowning, and who can blame them? But hey, snow happens!

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Is she scowling??

​It’s ironic. Even as we’re Spring cleaning, decluttering, and organizing at this time of year, the whole theme of April seems to be surprises. I guess it’s appropriate that the month starts off with April Fools’ Day ~ to say nothing of tax day! When I was thinking about what to say on today’s blog, it occurred to me that maybe the overall lesson of April each year is simply this: Roll with it.

You never know what you’re gonna get in April. Dark dramatic thunderclouds or balmy skies. Massive wind gusts or playful breezes perfect for flying kites. It’s probably good to get this annual reminder that we can’t always plan everything.

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​Lord knows that describes how my writing went last week—which is probably why I noticed this! I don’t mind telling you it’s aggravating when you find yourself running behind. Aside from working on the next Moonlight Square book, and revising the first Harmony Falls novel, I am also finishing up the last couple of chapters in the fifth Gryphon Chronicles story, SECRETS OF THE DEEP. Our hero Jake is thirteen now, so maybe that is why this book is being so ornery. (I don’t know about you but I was a PITA at thirteen.)
 
Another massive tome of some 120,000 words, SECRETS OF THE DEEP is so close to being done. I really thought I could do at least two of the four final chapters last week. But, surprise, surprise, I ran into a big action climax scene that slowed my progress to a snail’s pace. This was mainly because I had to stop and invent a bunch of stuff setting up the final installment of the series. So, the chapters I’d hoped to finish didn’t get done, and I’d been grinding my teeth over it. But when I saw that snow this morning and the pissed-off looking robins, I had to chuckle at myself and got the message loud and clear: Roll with it, baby! Lol.
 
Life is full of surprises, big and small – heck, some of us were born as surprises to our parents! As the old saying goes: 

Man plans ~ God laughs.

​So now hopefully I will remind myself next time a "surprise" pops up to look for the beauty, pleasure, or at least the humor in these little unexpected twists and turns. Ah, well! If all of life really could be orderly and planned, how boring would that be?! Do you like surprises? Vote & share with your friends! :)

By the way, if you got pranked this April Fools’ Day or if you tricked somebody else, PLEASE share the gory details below! I would love to hear all about it. :)
 
Thanks for visiting! I hope your Spring is off to a great start.

PS—My April Giveaway for subscribers has been announced, and it’s a good one ~ a triple whammy! You can check it out here.