Public Insect

There are several signs of spring. The warming air, the first hints of flora, annual fauna, and springing forward into Daylight Saving Time. I’m waiting for the natural aspects of spring to appear, and on Sunday, I will begrudgingly lose an hour to gain more sun. In the interim, I have become cognizant of another personal marker of spring:

My social calendar.

For obvious reasons, my public out decrease along with the temperatures between November and February. Oh, I still go out. I’ve been to movies, caught a couple of shows, dinners with friends – uh, hello, I’m Raivenne, I don’t hibernate, but I do slow down.

I’ve looked at the past few years, and the pattern is the same. March may come in like a lion and leave like a lamb weather-wise, but for my social calendar, it is the exact opposite, and I love it.

Today is just the 6th, yet in the span of the past three days, I went from only having three outings this month to eight. And that’s just March. I have at least three outings for each month from now until January. Mind you, this does not include the larger events, such as a convention I’m attending in Atlanta in April, Las Vegas in November, and my annual birthday getaway in September

So it’s March, the event horses have begun lining up at the gate– .

— and the Le Raivenne [a.k.a. the Social Butterfly turned Mothra] is off!


Slice of Life Writing Challenge – Day 6 – Two Writing Teachers

A Little Perspective

I got up this morning go through my usual routine while not-so-silently kvetching about the snowy-rain mix coming down, only grateful it was not full-out snow. Do I wear my boots or tough it out in my sneakers? What if it is not raining that hard? I don’t want to be standing around all day in boots, yada, yada, yada… I make a decision and head out. It’s dank and just miserable looking outside.

The path from my home to the train station leads past several tenement buildings and projects.  A part of City life in my current neighborhood is the occasional appearance of memorials for the recently departed. I’m ashamed to say, they are so much a part of the scenery that while I see them, I really don’t. 

At least, until this afternoon.

This afternoon, as I returned home, I noticed one such memorial. This was somehow different, and as I looked closer, I understood why. It was a large portrait was that of a baby. This life could not have been more than a few months if I am gauging this infant correctly. Someone lost a baby. Do we even want to go into all the reasons why the younger a life is when it departs from us, the more tragic it seems? No. It just is.

And suddenly, today’s highly annoying rain/snow crap was considerably less so.

A Little perspective is everything…


Slice of Life Writing Challenge – Day 5 – Two Writing Teachers