Daily Photo::3

A misty ride this afternoon to pick up the kids from school, making everything a vibrant green.  Hopefully May showers will bring June flowers.

peace

Sharp inhale...

Two robins are in the yard (on top of the snow) right now chasing each other back and forth. 

Spring?  Spring?  Is that you?

peace

A few of my favorite things

These are a few of my favorite spring flowers.  If you can id the first and last, let me know.  I have been unable to figure them out for 2 years now.

In order after the first one,
Field Pussytoe
Bleeding Hearts
Painted Trillium
Blue Bead Lily
Foam Flower & Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Foam Flower
Canada Mayflower
Blueberry
Field Horsetail

peace

A new shade of blue

By mid February winter blues of a slow-and-steady-few-inches-here-and-there kind of winter had set in around here.  So when we saw a big winter storm coming our way, we were actually looking forward to the change of pace and the beauty of lots of fresh clean snow.

That is until the storm got here and dumped 24" of wet, heavy snow in 36 hours on top of the 2 1/2 feet we already had plus another half a foot a few days later with more inches in between...we lost count.  It snowed every day for 6 days.  We went out into the yard a few times without our snowshoes on and Matt and I were both up past our thighs with more snow underneath!  Now I know that plenty of other parts of the country were hit with snow, lots of it and in unexpected places, this winter so I am not really complaining, just explaining why the additional 6 inches of snow-cone like snow this past Saturday just about threw me over the edge.

Since Monday, however, I am seeing a new shade of blue.  It has been amazingly beautiful the past few days and the sky has literally been a shade of blue I have either never seen before or never noticed before.  Electric blue, to be precise.  So despite the 2 feet of snow still on the ground, I KNOW that spring is here.  First the purple finches came back to the feeders, then we heard robins in the woods and two barred owls calling to one another, and today a hairy woodpecker was chasing a downy woodpecker away from the suet feeder.  Pretty soon we will see bear tracks, hear the peepers in the pond and see the ferns begin their alien-like emergence. 

And sandals, oh sweet sandals!  Nothing like a good late winter snow storm to give you spring fever.  What are you anticipating this spring?

peace

First day of spring

I would have posted this yesterday but, as you can see from the picture, we got an ice storm that weighed the trees, full of sap from a few upper 30 degree days recently, down into crazy almost touching-the-ground-positions successfully blocking our satellite internet signal.




So this is our first day of spring. It is almost April. April?! Spring?! Warmth?! I know it will be here eventually because I have seen the buds on the trees but the view from our window tells a different story.

I am finding parallels everywhere around me in nature to this season of the church year. Knowing there is hope for life and warmth in the midst of a frozen wasteland that speaks to the opposite. Seeing, living and interacting with nature in such an interdependent way has given me lots of metaphors for faith. If I can be so sure of spring's arrival against all odds here, can I not also remain strong in my faith for Christ's redemption of all I see as well?



This a tree leaving on the telephone pole that carries all our utilities to our house. Nice, huh?

Speaking of new beginnings, below are two new and important parts of our life. With mud season coming, as soon as the snow melts, we needed a 4 wheel drive vehicle of our own since the truck will be needed for Manice. Here is our new (used) Jeep that we love.



And our dog Holly, who is so sweet! She really has just a great laid back, gentle personality. Great with kids and other animals. I think she will make a find camp dog. We are also beginning to see her watch dog side. She is really the total opposite from aggressive in so many ways you might say she is a push over. I have only heard her bark or growl twice in the 2 weeks we have had her and both times were when she thought someone was threatening her family. I feel much better having her around when Matt is gone for work, especially considering it takes the state police 45 minutes to get here!




Prayers for an Easter season of hope and new life, even if it is buried under a frozen wasteland.

peace

August or Autumn

Last Thursday as the kids and I drove to playgroup, I noticed a tree whose leaves were turning yellow and orange. I thought to myself, "That's odd, that tree must have some disease to cause its leaves to turn colors already" because it is, after all, only August. Then on the way home from playgroup I saw another tree, a different kind of tree in a completely different place, with its leaves beginning to change colors! I began to worry because, after all, it is only August, people, August! Maybe a fluke? I thought. Not so much luck. Over the last week, I have noticed over 2 dozen trees whose leaves are changing! Granted, it has been colder than usual, mid to upper 50's during the day, lower 40's at night. This is crazy! I should be sweating and wearing sundresses and eating peaches. Not wearing 3 shirts, socks and shoes, and making fires in the fireplace because it is so cold at night. (I almost hate to make this joke because taking care of the environment is so important to me but...) I thought we were supposed to be having global warming, not cooling! Good things we already ordered our wood for the woodstove. Looks like we may need more than we thought!