Almost two months away. Letting the fields lay fallow, as we do in the cycle of renewal.

Now I return on a rainy day, fresh from a run with a red fox and a dance with black-capped chickadees. The fox sat on a curb in the ‘burb and watched me cruise by. I circled the block a few times and on each pass he sat, solo audience. There was eye contact, so on one lap I slowed to a stop to lengthen the exchange. The fox shifted his/her weight but did not otherwise respond. I ran on, feeling playful in the rain.

Play manifested as twirly swirly spins at the conclusion of my miles. Plucking the flower from my cap I danced to the countdown of the camera timer like old times. The rain soured a nearby yard sale so motorists fleeing the soggy scene turned my way, catching a blurry glimpse of my whirlygig hips. I pretended not to notice.

But then I heard laughter. A gaggle of chickadees chowing down on free birdseed under the eaves of an abode offered their scratchy-throat chuckles as if to cheer me on, giggle at the sight, or sound the alert to the birdy neighborhood: Hey y’all, free lunch and a show!

Though my spinning dance party was for me alone, I curtseyed to them when it was done, assuming the best of their unsolicited beaky reviews. As I rested I heard their continued commentary and conjured many a line of dialogue to go with it, as we do when the magic returns.

I feel like I owe you a catch-up post but that’s too big a bite today. I may get there or I may just keep easing back in a little at a time. Fresh starts require a start and that’s today, whether it be few words or many.

I’ve been taking lots of photos, of course. I dipped my toe back into the 5k racing scene just for the joy of it, won a tennis tournament (my division), took some online courses, taught some yoga classes (whoo hoo!), bought myself more diamonds (sure did), got the spring garden planted, immediately broke out in a horrid allergic reaction to half the stuff I planted, and much more. Here’s how some of all that looked:

So just a cheery hello. I started writing again today. I’m going to say it all weekend; I started writing again. Hear that, chickadees? I started writing again. It’s good to be back. More to come.