Brendan Says Spring is Coming

Every winter a day comes when the air gets warm and the sun is out and Brendan says that spring is coming. He finds a place in the sun, lifts his nose to the sky, closes his eyes and turns his head, breathing in the scents coming from the four points of the compass. I imagine the messages he is getting. Birds nesting to the east, a strange cat (Jakey the barn cat) to the west, a warm wind from the south smelling of green things and ice turning to fresh running water from the north.

This has been a tough winter here. Not cold, and in fact downright warm for most of it. But no snow and for us that means no skiing. We thought about going downhill skiing again but neither of us has current equipment and we can't afford any broken legs. So we decided to just forgeddaboutit and work. And losing Fergus two months ago well, what else can I say, it's a winter best forgotten. At this time we and half the valley are sick with a miserable in the chest cold flu type thing.

So we've started a few early seeds and they are coming up. Some basil and tomatoes and some ornamental grass Olof wanted to try. It feels good to smell the warm earth in the heated seed starter tray and see the little shoots.

It is hard to think about spring coming and not having Fergus with us to enjoy it. He found the world so exciting.