Gorgeous

The weather today was gorgeous. Too bad I had to work but there are pros to that as opposed to my former employment.

1. I have tons of windows that go to the ceiling, and work in an old building that allows them to open. I had a single casement window at the old job.
2. My tons of windows give plenty of light to a huge hanging fern, a diffenbachia that nearly touches the (probably ten-foot) ceiling, and two mongo scheffeleras that all reside in the space behind my desk. A co-worker has a second fern and starts from the diffenbachia. My co-workers tell me the ferns and possibly the diffenbachia have been there for 20 years. At the old job, we were not allowed to have live plants. I should have brought in a dead one.
3. I have a flowering crabapple tree just outside my windows. It is currently in the budding stage, but when it flowers I will definitely have my windows open. I'm on the second floor so I'll be up high enough in the tree to smell the flowers. There is also a bird's nest in the tree next to mine that I'll be watching. At the old job, I had a bank of eight air conditioners outside my window, and the cigarette smoke from the coffee break smokers wafted in. The A/C's ran virtually all year, at least the ones that cooled the mainframe of the large company upstairs, so it was almost always too noisy to open the windows.
4. I walk from my car to my building along a curving sidewalk that has plantings of Russian sage, lariope, hydrangea, and other plants that will be beautiful during their own season. Right now, white crocuses and tiny yellow daffodils are blooming and tulips and jonquils are coming up. At the old job, the walk from my car to my building was across the width of the parking lot which was perpetually covered with sand from various winters' treatment for ice and whatever trash blew around the back of the building. The large drain for probably half of the lot was next to my parking space, so when it rained I had to jump a river. Just outside the door, there were three small juniper bushes, one dead. There was also a large pot full of sand and spent cigarette butts with a kitty litter scoop stuck in it for occasional cleaning.

I think walking into work among nature's beautiful gifts of Spring makes a person feel better without even taking into consideration the job itself. When I walk to or from my car, I often lift my head and take a deep breath of fresh air, allowing the sunshine to warm my face. I enjoy the walk, even in the rain. Last week when we finally got a good rain, the sidewalk was covered with hundreds and hundreds of red wigglers. It could be gross, but I was more pleased to see that the soil was so healthy.

Tonight I cooked pork chops on the grill and paired it with a nice salad. We ate on the deck in the Adirondack chairs and soaked up the last sun of the day while fighting off Sweet Pea the cat who wanted to eat off my plate.

Glorious Spring!