blueberry bushes

Spring, springing

The first signs of spring in our yard: daffodils!

I adore hyacinths.

 Children always look beautiful when the sun is shining on their hair.

Studying worms in our square foot garden!

Pea shoots.

Enjoying the sunshine - it was nearly too warm out for jackets!

pondering seasonal fashion

Ah, springtime.  This season is absolutely stunning in this part of the country.  Blossoms burst into bloom all over.  Bushes I barely glanced at through the winter are suddenly covered with petals.   Temperatures loosen up a bit - even if the rain doesn't.  We live from day to day not knowing if the day will feel warm, or if we will be ripped apart by the cruel East wind.

This is the time of year when I break out my brighter clothes.  After months of tending to wear darker hues, suddenly I feel like turquoise, coral, and deep, saturated pink.  I change my heavy coat for lighter jackets - even if the weather is still chilly, I feel like something different!  Occasionally, these days, I even find the need to slide on my sunglasses.  Oh happy day!

But one thing has me puzzled.  You see, I am new to the world of boot-wearing.  It's only been a few months since I stepped into my first real pair of adult boots (aside from the snow boots I rarely don, that is).  During the colder months I gained three (yes, three!) pairs of boots, and I have had so much fun experimenting with them.  Discovering which skirts and dresses they go with, and which combinations make me look dumpy.  Figuring out which looks I adore, and what I'm still too afraid to try (skinny jeans, anyone?).

So now I'm wondering: when is it time to pack those boots away?  They seem to be such a staple of cold-weather months, adding warm and protection from the elements.  But I am loving them, and...I've noticed that the women around me seem to still be wearing them all. the. time.   So where is the boundary?  Is it different depending on where one lives?  Does it depend on temperature or personal comfort, rather than the calendar?  I'm trying to work out what I think about this vitally important tissue!

When do you put away your boots?  After the first day of spring?  Just before Memorial Day?  Whenever you please, thankyouverymuch?  I would love to know; please share!

spring is coming

Last week I did some planting. I'd been putting off putting my bulbs in, but I knew my time was limited - if I wanted to get them in before the rain really began, that is. So one afternoon, the clock ticking loudly in my ears, I used a small window of time to plant some promises for springtime.

Winter around here is long. At least, it feels that way to me. After autumn's brilliant beginning, the crisp, cool beauty of an Oregon October...it starts to rain. And then, it rains and rains and rains. It pretty much rains until April or May, with a few glad days of sunshine here and there. But mostly, it rains.

After nearly ten years of living in the Pacific Northwest, I've acclimated. Well...I've sort of acclimated. Possibly, I'm just resigned.

Whatever the case, I decided to plant something to remind me of the promise of spring. Something to encourage me after months of drizzly days. New growth...dashes of color...fragrance. Assurance that, no matter how gray the skies may appear, spring is coming.

I don't know where you are today. Maybe hurting. Maybe grieving. Maybe you're feeling the burden of the daily grind, wondering if what you're doing matters. Believe me, I've been there. Some days I'm still there. In the midst of wiping bottoms and scrubbing pots, of being positive when my kids protest doing their schoolwork, of feeling the seeming futility of chores that are never really finished. What does it matter, I wonder?

When my 5-year-old son heard about the bulbs I'd planted, he went to check it out. Surveying the level surface of soil and bark chips, he was puzzled. "I don't see anything," he frowned. There were no brave shoots, no new life, not a single petal. He couldn't see any change. What difference had my minutes with the trowel made?

And I told him the same thing that I tell myself, that I'm telling you.

"Just wait; you'll see. Even if you don't see any difference right now... In time, it's going to be beautiful."

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~Galatians 6:9

the last spring in our first house

Here are a few photos of evidence of spring around here. The first flower to make its presence known in out yard is the stately daffodil. I planted these bulbs a few months before Benjamin was born.

It always brings me great joy to see the hyacinths blooming. What a wonderful surprise it was to discover these beauties in my yard the first spring! They've needed no tending, yet each year they came up, smelling heavenly, a kind of a promise to me after the long, rainy winter.

And the crowning glory of our yard in spring? These lovely trees out front. I am so thankful that I got to see them fully in bloom before we move away.