April 2, 2022

Violas braving the weeds that edge the raised bed at the west end of the house.

Looking east to the meadow beyond the shop as the sun slants down to the west in late afternoon.

Green grass has grown above the pale stems of winter. 

Blogger is mis-behaving! Photos loaded for a post last evening, but various strange pop-ups not allowing me to add text in the usual way. So, that post abandoned for now.

Springtime is so often a date on the calendar with the weather proving more in tune with late winter.

I note weather data as well as tasks or errands accomplished each day, scribbling such reminders in the 'blocks' of the calendar kept on my desk.  I can state with assurance that the month just past has been one of mostly bleak weather--chilly mornings barely above the freezing mark, days when the sun didn't break through. On the few days which offered warmish sunny afternoons, I pruned the rose hedge, dug up and transplanted self-sown coneflowers and foxglove.  Jim designed and installed sturdy railings for the front porch. I've pottered at the unavoidable household tasks, made some half-hearted attempts to get on with sewing projects.

Willis-the Cat, as always, my faithful helper in outdoor projects

Note the weeds which have grown in around the paving stones and along the edge of the raised bed.

Weeds here are evergreen, flourishing in spite of freezing temps or  occasional snow.

The most pervasive is dead nettle/lamium;  fields and roadsides are purple with the profusion of tiny blossoms. I haven't decided what I can do with this area--Ideally, the stones should be removed, a weed barrier laid down. I doubt I can find the energy!

For me, as for many, the antidote to the concerns, [alright, the worries!] that beset, is a balance of outdoor time, reading, doing 'something constructive'--attempts to keep at bay the niggling reminders of aging, of family maladies, and, more than usual the threats of illness and upheaval in the world about us--most of these situations not preventable--not to be greatly changed by any intervention of our own.

We pray and ponder; we yearn over family and friends--the circles that each of us hold dear.

To use a well-worn phrase: we keep on--keeping on!

As we ease into April [we were BLOWN into April!] we can spend more time outdoors, plunge our fingers into the soil; sow and plant, weed and prune.

We can make more effort to support and cherish those we love, spend more time in awareness and appreciation of the seasons, greeting the springtime that always arrives, however tardy.