February Brings HOPE!

Hello to all my wonderful friends in Blogland!  I am so happy to have made so many wonderful new friends this past week.  And now it is already a new month! The month of February!! Mommie says February is a very special month because a lot of happy things happen this month. 

(John Sloane's Country Seasons Calendar)

There's Valentine's Day, And President's Day... Mommie said we celebrate the birthdays of all Presidents on that day, but that really only Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were born in February (that she knows of).  Mommie said she remembers when she was a little girl like me that they used to have a parade on George Washington's birthday (February 22) and a carnival with big rides and games and lots of fun stuff to to do. She said she used to get to march in the parade when she was a Girl Scout and then also as a Junior Majorette, twirling her baton. But she said she got blisters on her heels from the boots they had to wear and it wasn't much fun after that.  I wish I could have seen her then. She doesn't know where any pictures are from then or she'd show me.  But here is a recent picture of some Junior Majorettes from that same parade that they still have every year:

Mommie said she noticed that they aren't wearing boots anymore! She said that was a smart move! She said that her costume was red and white, but that was a LONG time ago!  

I wish I could be a Junior Majorette! That looks like fun!

Oh, Mommie said that my Daddy's birthday is also in February and that we might have a party to celebrate!! Oh, I hope so!! That would be so much fun!

Mommie said that Valentine's Day is a special day for friends and sweethearts to give cards and gifts to each other, like candy or flowers.

I'm happy that I already have my pretty new Valentine's dress to wear!

Yesterday afternoon Mommie introduced me to the "Aunties", also known as "The Martin Sisters". They invited me to come and have a little tea party with them.  So I got to wear my new dress.

Actually, I had met them on my first day here, but I was still wearing my play clothes and I showed them my guitar.  They seemed to think that I needed to dress more appropriately for a young lady, and they would like for me to learn how to play the piano instead of the guitar.  

Mommie said that I could do both, and that it was okay for me to wear play clothes when I am playing, and I will dress up when I visit with special people or go to church.  

She said that "The Aunties" are kind of old fashioned but I do need to learn proper manners and how to visit with older people. Mommie says they are very nice ladies and that they could teach me a lot about how to do things like knit, crochet, sew, and have proper tea parties and such...

So maybe we can do that in the future!  They were very nice to me and I think I will enjoy visiting with them more often!

So this morning Mommie and Daddy and I went for our usual walk. It was kind of blustery and getting colder, so we didn't stay long...but Mommie wanted to see if there were anymore flowers blooming on the wild plum trees:

Look at all those blossoms!! Just since a couple of days ago more and more have popped open all over the trees!

Looky how pretty this is!!! And they smell sweet too!

But look at these trees! They are not very pretty trees, with old Spanish Moss hanging down from the branches, and they look old and dead, except for all those beautiful little flowers opening up all over them! 

And here's another one nearby! Who would believe that these scraggly old trees would have such wonderful blossoms on them?  I asked Mommie how they do that! 

She said that in the fall and winter the trees lose all their leaves and they look bare and like they are dead.  But God made the trees really special, because during those cold winter months they are really kind of like "sleeping" and resting up for the spring.  In the spring the new rains come and water the trees and plants in the ground, and they wake up and drink in all the fresh water and the buds start to form in the branches until they can't hide in there anymore, so they burst forth with new life and the flowers blossom again.  And then, once the flower goes away, a tiny little plum begins to grow and develop where the flower was.  And in a few weeks it grows and grows and pretty soon there is a pretty purple plum where the flowers were! Since these are wild plum trees, the fruit is kind of small, but the birds love them and probably some animals on the ground eat them too when they fall to the ground. It's all a part of God's wonderful way of replenishing the earth with new life every year.

Seeing the flowers blossom in the spring always gives us great hope that something wonderful is going to happen soon!

Speaking of Presidents, one of our former Presidents' First Lady, "Lady Bird Johnson", loved flowers a lot. She had many many wildflowers planted along the highways of our country, to make everything look so beautiful. She is quoted as saying:

"Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope".

"But I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more."

Psalm 71:14

Back home at our Still Waters Pond Mommie showed me that the Maple trees around the pond are also starting to "blossom".  Their flowers aren't like a plum blossoms, but they are little tiny red blossoms that will become maple leaves soon and turn green.  She said these are all signs that spring is on its way and therefore we should all have "hope" for better days ahead!

I HOPE you have enjoyed this little adventure today.  Mommie said that we don't always get to go to special or important places, but we enjoy what we have around us and we should thank God every day for the things He provides for us to enjoy, like flowers and Valentines and nice "Aunties" who want to teach us things! And for springtime!

And for YOU, our special friends in Blogland!!

Love,

Lily Grace