The house is unadorned. All remnants of Christmas are packed and in the attic. All except for the gifts, I received. I have a soft Christmas blanket, a fine new backpack, a lovely set of glass storage dishes, clothes, and memories, lots of memories -- music, walks, talks, food, fun, laughter. Those are the vestiges of Christmas I enjoy the most. And they will be with me the longest because the gifts remind me of the givers and the memories we’ve made and will make.

Now the walls of my house are just walls and I’m getting ready to paint and move furniture around. I’m trying to keep the living space fresh because that’s what it’s for living. And I intend to live, and I want to have a small party this spring with friends and music. It might be hard to schedule because I seem to have fallen in with a group of friends who do things. But maybe we can squeeze something in, an afternoon perhaps, you never know. Sometimes the best parties are the ones that happen spontaneously with a few calls and people in the right place at the right time. Besides, who says a party has to have a lot of people. Nothing.

Yesterday, when I finished my chores, I went for a walk down the park road. It was a cool afternoon and I simply wanted to stretch my legs, which I did. As I walked, I noticed the bluebonnets were up and getting ready for spring. And now that I have that picture in my head, another nice thing to go with the Christmas gifts and the memories, I think that will be the party trigger, wildflowers. I’ll tell my friends, they’re up, come if you can. Some will, some won’t. But it will be a gathering and it will happen, or it won’t. And we can always try again when the late spring flowers come or even the summer flowers. There’s always something blooming, if you know where to look.