It’s nearly spring.  At least that’s what it feels like today.  The robins are singing, the P.E. classes and the track team are pounding the pavement around town, and I am ready to break out the light weight jackets and the flip-flops.  I can’t wait to start digging in the flower pots and opening the windows.  I’m going to have to wash a few windows as well.  Red has been fighting his image in the vehicle mirrors and picture window all winter.  No doubt Mr. Cardinal believes he is protecting Mrs. Red from interlopers.  Silly bird wastes a lot of energy, I think.  No other feathered competition around our place has the majestic coat that would attract a finicky female with an attitude.

I’ve been expending energy as well, but I’ve not been wasting it.   Processing books is a ‘fun’ chore.  Boxes of donated books and many new ones are now waiting on the shelves – waiting to be picked up with the hope of entertaining the next individual that wanders by.

If you are feeling the winter blahs (or are tired of the political ads already), there is something for you at the Hayes Center Library.  Come in and . . . Check It Out!

Is it really time to set some New Year’s resolutions?  Eating less, exercising more, winning the lottery and starting a new hobby seem to be popular with many.  I’ve decided I only have three:  1) Read more; 2) Read more; 3) Read more!  So many books. . .so little time!  Guess I’ll have to put down the cross stitching and pick up one of the books on my list.   Not to mention the newspapers, magazines and my Bible.
I love to try new authors, so we have a large variety here in the Library.  Quite often someone will tell me about a book or an author they like, so I have the benefit of being able to get a first-hand opinion.  I have noticed that more and more authors are writing in series instead of stand-alone books.  I suppose the intent is to capitalize on readers that have gotten hooked on a particular character or family.  When the ending leaves you wondering what happens next, it’s probably a good indication that you’ll have to get the next book in the series to find out.  But, I don’t like to start a series unless I can finish it.  So, I usually wait until the series is complete before I read it.  Of course, that means it may be several years before I read a best-selling series.  In the meantime there’s always plenty to choose from.  So, whether you like a good mystery, biography or romance – series or stand-alone, we have something for everyone.  Start the new year out with a resolution to read.  Come in and . . . Check It Out!

I’ve fallen behind and I can’t catch up!!!  The older I get the faster the time goes!  Maybe time really did drag back when I was in school.  I don’t get nearly as much done in a day as I used to.  Cleaning my home, doing laundry or yard work.  Doesn’t matter what chore I tackle – it takes longer!  I’m sure that means that time is moving at an increased rate of speed during the daylight hours!

On the other hand – while I’m looking forward to having my children and grandsons visit this summer, the weeks seems to drag by rather slowly.  They love coming ‘to Grandpa’s farm’ and helping Grandpa ‘work’.  They almost forget that Grandma’s here until they get hungry.  It’s a good thing I love to cook.   It’s also a good thing that my ‘girls’ enjoy helping out so I can just be Grandma for the day!  When they’ve all gone home, I’ll probably be exhausted.  But, it will be a good kind of exhausted.  And, the next day I’ll start looking forward all over again to the next time I get to see them.

While I’m waiting for my family to get here in July I’ll try to concentrate on just enjoying life each day, counting my blessings, working, digging in my flower garden, and thanking the Lord for my husband of 40 years.  I mustn’t yearn for the future in such a way that I miss the blessings of the present.

One of the blessings I enjoy is being able to immerse myself in a good book.  And, we have a great selection of books new to the library thanks to donations and great sales!  Don’t forget to come in and Check It Out. . .

It’s wet in Hayes County!!!   It really is!!!  We’ve got snow and it’s still coming down!  Now if it will just stay where it has fallen and melt there, it will be of some help to this dry area of Nebraska.  The wind has produced some scenic snow patterns on roof overhangs and on window screens.  No doubt the snowfall is more attractive to those who don’t have to do the scooping, but I haven’t heard any complaints so far.  Remember the four day blizzards we used to get forty years ago?  Snow drifts over the barns and one way traffic over the hills for weeks once the roads were finally opened.  We’d have monopoly tournaments and hot cookies from the oven as soon as the electricity was restored.  Several days of no school!  No cell phones or i-pads to entertain us.  We had to actually talk to each other.  Oh, those were the days!

Life has changed in many ways since then, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my love of reading historical novels of romance or intrigue.  I will be forever indebted to my parents and teachers for opening up the world of imagination using the words of writers everywhere.  I give no apologies for my voracious reading habit.  And I also take great pleasure in witnessing my grandsons visit their library and enjoying the children’s books.  One thing they do that I don’t like to do is read a book twice, or three times or as many times as they can get Grandpa or Grandma to read it to them!  By the time the books go back to the library they can recite some of them verbatim.  Not me.  When I finish a book it goes back immediately so I can start another one.  Too many books and too little time left to need to read a book over again.

If you want to curl up with a book and a cup of your favorite beverage while you wait for the spring work to begin, come in, search the shelves and Check It Out. . .

It’s wet in Hayes County!!!  Well, not really.  I’m just so tired of saying “it’s dry” that I decided to change it up a bit.  The power of positive thinking?  If that actually worked, it would have rained many weeks ago.  We’re all in the same boat – so to speak.  Except this boat needs waders for dust.

All summer we have had critters come up and stand under the sprinklers on the lawn.  Pheasant, quail, deer.  The deer decimated my garden by taking big chunks out of the cucumbers and tomatoes and eating the blooms and tops out of the beans.  They could have had better pickens if they hadn’t tromped it all to pieces before the first frost.   I tried yelling and waving my arms only to find they were back twenty minutes later.  Then we pulled out the pellet gun.  It didn’t motivate them to move on either.  Now that the garden has frozen they have taken to eating the flowers out of the hanging baskets at my back door and standing on their back legs to reach the berries on the cedar tree.  Maybe it’s time to double the hunting permits in Hayes County!

If you have more time now that the gardening is over and before you think about Christmas shopping you might want to come in and look over all the new books we’ve added since spring.  Several nice boxes of donations and a purchase of large print books has the shelves overflowing.  I’ve discovered many new and interesting authors if you need a change of pace.  Or, we have lots of the old standbys as well.  Come on in and CHECK  IT  OUT.  .  .