Rain

It's rained so much the last two days that if it were snow it would look like this. Actually, this morning it was snow, but it looked automated, like the pretend stuff that snows all day inside the building at Disneyland and Yankee Candle. Thank you God for rain, for the warmth of it, for the fact that it doesn't accumulate and never needs to be shovelled. Thanks you for Spring! :-)

Sick-n-bed

Where you been, Donna? I ask the question of myself, even though I know what's been happening, I'm still uncertain of the reasons. It puzzles me enormously that anyone could be doing every kind of "green" nutrient available and eating a minimum of 4, maximum of 10, fresh pressed garlic cloves a day and still be this ill. I'm going to start following Joy's suggestion to claim and affirm my appreciation for the system. I love and appreciate my beautiful clear lungs. I love and appreciate my beautiful restful sleep. I love and appreciate my beautiful immune system. I love and appreciate... Joy!

Diatamaceous Earth

I was surprised to see it in the sugar shack and find that it was added to the freshly boiled maple syrup before it goes through the 7 filters to pull out all the impurities. The Diatamaceous Earth is really volcanic glass and apparently is very helpful in binding the impurities so that they get stuck in the filter.
I only knew of it before, as a gardener when I discovered that it kills all kinds of un-helpful garden bugs and will not hurt any of the garden-friendly ones. It's most useful when organic gardening, and apparently, in maple syrup production as well!

First Flowers

Actually, the crocus are the first and they won't really pop their little heads out of the soil for a few more weeks. Of course, Easter is a month early this year, which seems strange since the Vernal Equinox was just yesterday and originally Easter was a symbol of that equinox. I don't think we've ever had one in April, which is when Easter usually is. That may give us a better head-start on the actual blooming of local flowers, but it's got little to do with the phases of the moon. Today the winds were ferocious, wild and irratic. The day before that was soaking rain. Each day brings another weather variation. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Equinox Question

It rained all night, with snow mixed in and it rained all this day, cold, dark, & dreary. And I open my e-mail on the verge of this Spring Equinox to the beautiful question... Will you come to Magnolia and cat-sit this July. Well, let me think about it. (duh?) Should I spend 10 days of peace and quiet and unscheduled time wandering along the New England coastline, swimming in the bay. Do I want to visit my summer cats and spend hours on the screened-in porch listening to the fountain and watching birds feed? Shall I walk the quiet coast in the moonlight and sit on the float watching the sparkles that float in the bay. Would I appreciate a summer vacation that costs me nothing? Yeah, ABSOLUTELY Thanks so much, Holly, for brightening this day!

Greenhouse

Joy Joy in the greenhouse pretending she's a plant. I've had to move her out of that corner in order to start this year's seedlings. She's pretty happy doing her can-o-cat number anyway - all curled up in a can that's way too small for her, she'll spend the entire day sleeping in there. The seedlings love the hot plant lights anyway and Joy wants no part of that She's outside now getting nice and cold, looking for some fresh rodents to kill, but she'll be back in the morning curled up in a tiny little ball in the can.

Undivided Attention

Dogs are so loyal. They give their unconditional love and undivided attention to whoever has the food. We have a stray cat, looks a lot like Mom's Cassie and appeared by the bird feeder mid winter. It was quickly obvious she was never going to catch a bird & hadn't eaten for quite some time, so we gave her what the spoiled girls refused to eat. Now she knows where to go for food, but don't think for a minute that she'll let either one of us near her. I know there's problems ahead as our girls become outside summer cats, but what could I do? She was not allowed to starve to death! Sigh!

Snow Sculptures

The snow sculptures are all but gone now. There are still dirty mountains in the store parking lots and some of them are still a bit decorative, but the sculpture season is officially gone. Trees are budding out now and the brown muddy lawns are turning greener by the day. Little sprouts of green are sticking their heads up out of the mud. Yep, life is good!

Full Rivers

The rivers are full FULL today, so much snow melt that the banks are really small. It's not quite flood-stage, but pretty close. I wonder if that's why my red fox wandered up to the freeway and got himself killed today. Maybe his meadow is under water and he needed food? I was so sorry to see him. I hope the rest of the family is alright. Sometimes it's hard to see divine order, you know. I think of the rest of the family wondering where he is, waiting for him to bring home food, company, comfort. I wonder if I should go to the pet store and get some mice, or rabbits to set loose in the meadow. I would hope they would get a chance to propigate before they became fox food. I don't know if there is anything I can do to help. I'll pray on it.

March, The Cruelest Month

Well, I guess that's life! It's really only the air that's cold. It was quite warm inside the car, but one dare not get out without that coat! We can see the snow disappearing, lawns coming out from under and brown turning green. So, from inside the car it looks like spring, but then, open that car door and.... burrr and shiver! March, my friend, is a bit of a tease!

Bulb Show

At Whole Foods today the woman in line ahead of me had just come from the Bulb Show. It's a long standing tradition at Smith College and one that is looked forward to by thousands of winter-weary New Englanders in our area. I was very glad to hear about it myself. It will be so nice to get some spring shots in the middle of this season of changes. Meanwhile, the Chinese transition period has already started which honors the eight days before and after Solstice, or Equinox in this case. I've started decreasing the Water, winter, kidney/ear tonics and am prepared for next Wednesday to begin the Wood, spring, liver-gallbladder/eye therapies. It seems so odd, at this late date, to be so closely connected to the earth/seasons/calendar and be in tune to it all.

Butterfly Out of Season

Living in New England, one would think this is NOT a March picture. It is, though! Magic Wings is up in Deerfield, MA and in there it is possible to get live butterflies in your hair any time of the year. My biggest problem that visit was that my camera was cold from being out in the car and it took a good long time for it to de-fog once it hit that warm air. In just a couple of months, we'll have real butterflies floating around our own back yard, but in the meantime, it's nice to know that Magic Wings is still up there.

Big Bear Hug

Cold again today. Snow's still melting and there's even a little green showing up in the browness, but the wind was cold-Cold-COLD and it was necessary to keep all the winter clothes handy for getting out of the car. The light is stronger and it's around longer, so it won't be long until we're totally thankful for some coolness in the breeze. I'll see if I can explain that to the cat!

Winter Flowers

It's lovely that they always have the orchid show in the middle of the winter. It's so nice to walk around a warm room filled with the sights and scents of exotic flowers. It takes away the sense of permanence that the cold days inflict. We changed our clocks today, we sprang forward into the return of cold air and fierce winds. We leapt back into our hats scarves gloves and coats and went in search of a building filled with flowers.

Last Icecicles

It was 52 degrees today and the low is expected to be 39. Yards are appearing where fields of white were last week, and not just brown, there's actually some green showing up out there! No, I won't be a bit surprised if we see some more snow, but the truth of the matter is, winter is over here in the Northeast. Nobody minds, though there's plenty of whinning about rain, as if they had already forgotton how much easier it is to deal with rain than snow. There is some concern about flooding and the rivers were full FULL today, hours before the rain storm begins. I guess it's time to put the down comforter away, there will be no more icecicles until the end of this year.

Karate Bear

Sometimes it was a little embarrassing when I carried one or more of the bears into someone's business and asked to borrow their space for props for the Healthy Bear Book. It was usually accepted with joy, though and I was often surprised to see how much people wanted to PLAY, and how thrilled they were that I gave them the opportunity. This visit was particularly fun though, because when I thought we were done and getting ready to leave, the man said to me, "Wait, wait... I have a great idea!" And, as you can see, he most certainly DID!!!

Contented

Here's what it's like to hae the chance to sleep in on a rainy day. I love listening to the rain from my snug space in a warm bed. I can't think of anything more soothing. I got a chance to take a nap today when it was pouring and I'm not sure if I slept or just lay there purring. It was nice, too, that it was RAIN and not snowing or icing.

Leaf

I love how it's the beginning of spring and these oak leaves are still detatching themselves from their trees. Everything else got naked months ago and their bare branches are already budding out, while the mighty oak retains their musty brown leaves, letting them go, one at a time, throughout the next two seasons.

The Face

I guess it's really a Halloween image, not appropriate for the spring-like day we just had. It was chilly enough to keep coats on, but showed every indication of a thaw. This whole week expects to be in the 30's and 40's and two nights are predicted at 39! Spring is definitely on the way and even if there is another snow storm or two, spring will arrive ...soon, very soon.

Maple Candy

I stopped by the sugar shack today and picked up some candy for the classmates of my great nephew Carson in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. I was too late to catch the syrup production process, but I got to see the flue pan in it's empty and being cleaned stage. I had all the production pictures I really needed from my shoot at Onoco Farms in Rhode Island a few years back. I'm keeping Flat Stanley because we have quite a bit more touring to do, but I've sent the maple candy and the maple photo series off to Oklahoma for immediate consumption. I suspect it will be well enjoyed.

Groundhog Lied

March comes in like a ... snowman! So, there we were, again, this morning, chipping away at another 8 inches of snow. Yes, I'm grateful that it was the light fluffy stuff, so I'm not going to complain about the groundhog. I know winter's almost over. The trees are budding out already, and it's over 40 degrees out there already, so I'm glad we cleaned it up before it got warm and heavy, but I need a nap now!