The signs of approaching spring are unmistakable now. I see them all around me. For a week our daytime temperatures rose above freezing (but not the nights, of course). The snow and ice have begun to retreat steadily, if not hastily. The red-winged blackbirds and grackles arrived on Monday. Their singing is a glorious sound. We saw our first robins on Friday. There’s still plenty of snow around. In some parts of the orchard it’s still three feet deep. All of my flower beds are still buried except one little corner in the front of the house. As soon as the snow was gone, the snowdrops started to push through.
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| Snowdrops. |
The melting snow is feeding the streams, creeks, and rivers. The ice is breaking up and moving down the rivers. In some places it jams up. The beaver pond across the road is almost free of ice and full of migrating ducks and mergansers. It won’t be long before the hazels let down their tassels and the pussy willows are in catkins. Then one night before long there will be peepers.
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| Mergansers on the beaver pond. |
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| Ice jam on the Genesee. |
Last Sunday afternoon, under the weight of the melting snow and ice, our barn roof collapsed. Josiah first noticed it when he went down to do the chores. It didn’t cave into the barn, the peak just sagged and went flat. All the fascia and the wooden wall parts on the outside buckled under too. The interior space was not affected. So now we must repair the barn. Our homeowner’s insurance will cover it, but it’s going to be a hassle. I don’t know where we’ll put the chickens, turkeys, and the goose while the repairs are being made. The barn was in need of some work, but I didn’t plan on going about it this way. Despite its dilapidated condition, there is some happy news from the barn. The hens are giving us a dozen eggs a day now.
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| The barn with its collapsed roof. |
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| Eggs! |
Last week one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, died. I was sad to hear it. He was only 66. I read my first Terry Pratchett novel, The Wee Free Men, in 2008 – a book recommended by a friend. That was my introduction to the Discworld and I was instantly hooked. I spent the next year and a half reading the Discworld novels. I’ve read all of them and I loved them all. The 41st book in the series will be published posthumously sometime this year. They are funny, brilliantly inventive, thought provoking, and entirely entertaining. Terry Pratchett was a genius. He will be missed.
It’s very windy and cold today. I can hear the wind whistling in the tree tops and sometimes it shakes the house. I’m tired of the cold. It looks like tomorrow it will hit 50° and then another spell of cold weather is due to arrive and stay a while. It snowed a little this morning – not enough to do much more than intensify my longing for it all to go away. The garden of 2015 is off to a late start. I should have had the orchard pruned by now, but I’ve been waiting for the snow to melt a little more. I can’t wait any longer. This week we must prune – even with several feet of snow on the ground. This is a Big Pruning Year. Every tree but the very newest needs pruning. That’s over 30 trees. It will take several days working after school until it’s too dark or we’re too numb. Josiah will help me, but even so, it will be hard.
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| Snow still deep in the orchard. |
Dinner is almost ready – our favorite Sabbath standby, oatmeal burgers and home fries. It smells so good. Stacey and Josiah are playing chess while they wait. Josiah prides himself on his prowess at chess, but somehow his mother manages to beat him more times than not. After we eat I plan on a Sabbath nap, but I can’t decide where – under a pile of quilts in bed or on the couch in front of the wood stove. Decisions, decisions.
