special occasions
today is sort of a holiday in our household. tax day. the end of a short, very intense season for my tax preparer husband. we’re not very good about special occasions, as it turns out. we don’t do much for birthdays or christmas, to say nothing of the holidays like valentines day and mothers day, manufactured by the national retail federation. if we were good at special occasions, we would probably go out to eat and order champagne and martinis tonight, but instead we’re going to build a fire and open a bottle of southern french wine, because what we’ve really been craving for the last 11 weeks is not a blow-out celebration, but a resumption of a satisfying routine. it sounds boring. but the thought fills me with an electric thrill.

(unidentified) flowering spring shrub