The snow has melted, the black flies are swarming, the woods are coming alive. It can only mean one thing: Spring has sprung!
Yes, the black flies are out in force. Usually it's nice to be loved, but not by black flies. Karen likes to go for walks with me this time of year, since the little biters all swarm on me and leave her bug-free. I end up with welts all around my forehead, and she just smiles. I get my revenge later, though. Mosquitos love her more than they love me.
We're seeing new birds arrive on our hill each day. It's so wonderful to hear the woods full of song after the silence of winter. In a northerly clime like this spring truly is an annual miracle. It seems so impossible that the plants will come to life again, so impossible that the songbirds will fly thousands of miles just to be here, but then it happens.
I bought me a rototiller a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm in the process of tilling the garden after a two-year hiatus. My body is telling me that I'm getting old! But it's a good pain, and we will have a garden once again. The radishes and radicchio are already up, the leeks are transplanted, and several other vegetables are seeded. If the warm spring continues, we hope to get the warm season crops in the ground in the next couple of weeks.
I hope your spring is as optimistic as ours!
Peace,
Terry
5/11/04