It appears that Spring is trying to make its entrance here in Fargo. We have reached a high of 40 degrees for three consecutive days (that used to be parka weather for me—now it’s tank top, open the window, pack the heater away weather). The grass, though brown, is beginning to show beneath the receding snow, and the birds have begun their incessant chatter in the trees outside our windows. I’m told that here in the midwest, Spring sometimes has to make several false starts before it makes its final emergence, so I’m not holding my breath yet, but the change is kind of pleasant.

I’m not sure I’m ready for full-fledged Spring, yet, though. The reason for this is that sometime this past winter, something crawled into the right-hand crisper drawer in my refrigerator and died. Or maybe I put it there and forgot about it. At any rate, I know it died because every time I open the refrigerator door, the smell of decay casts itself against my delicate olfactory organ, causing intense discomfort. I have endured it so far for two reasons: one, because I’m afraid to open the drawer and see what the deceased thing is, and two, because I told myself all winter that when Spring came I would take care of it.

I had to wait till Spring because the parking lot has been solid ice and Aaron won’t let me walk across it without assistance. That has to do with my story because the dumpster is all the way at the other end of the parking lot, and whatever is in the crisper drawer is going to need a (very) speedy burial in the dumpster, with as little time in my apartment-morgue as possible. I’m dreading the trek across the parking lot with the rotting remains of the thing in the crisper drawer, so if winter wants to stick around a little longer, that’s okay by me.

In other news, my mom has finally taken the plunge. Everybody else in the family has had some sort of major medical emergency, but she has been holding out—until yesterday. It seems that yesterday her appendix got tired of doing whatever it is that appendices do, and insisted that she have it removed. She obliged it this morning, and now she and her appendix are happily divorced. She’s getting some (probably very expensive) R&R in the hospital right now, but should be heading home tonight or tomorrow.