Ready for spring

Sadly, my gardening vacation is at its end. It’s Sunday morning. My body is wrenched to the side to type this, my lap board and laptop tilted at 45 degrees due to one side being propped on the chair’s arm, all because a cat is sleeping in my lap and I don’t want to disturb … Continue reading Ready for spring

Like a fairy forest

My upper body can’t shovel another crumb of dirt. I tried to clean up the rest of the mulch today and my left shoulder pretty much said, No, No more of that. I put the pitchfork and wheelbarrow away. I’m curious what the gardens look like of people who actually know what they’re doing. There’s … Continue reading Like a fairy forest

Witch hazel

In February, first come the snowdrops, then the crocuses. Then, when all the other deciduous trees are still stripped bare, there’s one that blazes forth in bright sunshine yellow. With its saffron strands, the witch hazel announces itself against the bleak grey-brown of the winter landscape. It tells me, it’s not just the ground flowers … Continue reading Witch hazel

Open windows

We threw our windows open three days ago. At long last. Sun pours into the kitchen window and spreads yellow rectangles of light on the shiny oak floor under the dining table. A crow’s caw tears the empty morning. The whine of a prop plane’s propeller builds and then fades overhead. Chirrups of songbirds trill … Continue reading Open windows