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Everywhere I go, someone
has told me, “I’m glad it’s spring!” or “I’m glad warm weather is here.”
I actually saw a woman dance in a circle the other day when she found
out that a friend had plowed her garden space for her.
I have to
admit that I too took the first chance to get out into the flower beds,
if only to see what was coming up and get my hands a little dirty. I
have a tendency to forget what I’ve planted and where, so each spring I
come upon little surprises I’ve forgotten.
I’ve spent
several hours in the last few weeks, sitting on the back porch and
rocking in the chair. Overlooking the lake, the bird feeders, and the
flower bed, I can literally watch the world around me “spring” to life.
I’ve watched
the geese come in to nest, and have heard the peepers and the bull frogs
begin their seasonal songs. I’ve checked each day on the lilac bush that
had February buds that got frozen. The buds returned and this week
sprouted out into leaves.
I know the
exact hour and day when the fish began “hitting” the water, and took the
pole down to catch a sunfish, just to throw it back and return to the
porch. I know the moment the wood bees and wasps awoke.
I passed a
fresh mowed yard on Wednesday, and smelled the sweetness of wild onions.
Already, two county
farmer’s markets are prepping and setting their first days of operation
and my neighbor has asparagus and rhubarb planted.
When I lived
in the city, I was never so tuned to the arrival of spring. In the
country, the world outside is as much of our lives as the rooms inside
our homes. For many of us, our only neighbors are the creatures and
critters that wander occasionally through the yard.
Sitting on the back
porch is an activity. Rocking and watching the world outside is a past
time of great beneficial proportions. It’s like, every spring, a new
room has been added on to the house.
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