Out in the Boondocks

On a fine spring day it’s difficult to believe there is so much trouble in the world. There is so much turmoil right now, fueled by disease and fear and political unrest. As I watch the news, I appreciate even more that I live in a fairly remote place. There are no big cities near here. This place is sparsely populated. No major highways pass through here. I have always felt a measure of security in our relative isolation here. While the world is boiling over, it seems we hardly feel the heat here. We don’t have to worry about toilet paper or bottled water or any of the other things the world is in a panic over. I don’t want to sound uncaring, I do care, but I feel blessed to be removed from much of it, by physical distance anyway.

Our two weeks away from winter had me considering forsaking my Potter County home to live in southern Florida. While we were there, one of the things I did not like was the human density – millions of people living in crowded places, heavy traffic day and night, new development everywhere. I’ve come to my senses now. I still hope to go south for the winters someday if that’s possible, but I cannot leave this place permanently. It is too much a part of me. Winters here may be long and cold, but spring, summer, and fall are glorious. I feel that I belong here – at least from March to November anyway. The other months I could happily spend in Florida.

Twenty years of making a garden here have not been enough for me. A hundred years would not suffice. Last week we had days mild enough to melt most of the snow. There are just a few persistent patches left up on the hills along the edge of the woods where it was deepest. In my garden, the newly uncovered flowerbeds have revealed a thousand shoots emerging from the thawing soil – daffodils, tulips, muscari, hyacinths, chionodoxa, and squill. The snowdrops and crocuses are already in bloom. It is thrilling to see them. Spring, when it finally begins, is sudden and exciting. New life seems to appear all at once. The earth is anxious to cover itself in flowers again.

Monday was an especially lovely early spring day – and it isn’t even officially spring yet! The temperature rose to 65° and it was sunny and breezy all day. I spent every minute I could outdoors. I opened the chicken coop for the first time in months and let the flock out to enjoy the nice weather. They were so happy. I also set up the rain barrel by the barn so I won’t have to carry water down from the house now. That makes me happy. I spent time weeding and clearing away winter debris in the garden. It felt good to get my hands in the soil again. As I was raking up old soggy leaves, I found the first crocus in bloom under the viburnum bush. It was yellow of course. They are always the first to bloom. By the end of the week there were dozens of them. The other colors, white and purple, are opening now too.

The very first crocus of 2020.

More crocuses.

The first of my favorite crocuses, the striped ones.

Later in the week I finished clearing the flowerbeds. The weather was colder by then, but I had time and could not stop myself. On Friday I bought some lumber and built two more raised beds. My winter softened muscles ache from all the exercise. It’s a good feeling. It means the days of activity outdoors are here again. The pain will subside as the season moves forward (for the most part), but my delight will only increase.

The long border after cleaning.

The time to start seeds is almost here. Preparations are underway. A friend of mine gave me a set of grow light shelves. They are old, but in pretty good shape. Miriam helped me set them up. I’ve washed and sanitized my seed trays. Soon there will be trays of seeds, the garden of 2020, sprouting under the lights. On Wednesday I placed my seed orders. Now I will watch each day for their arrival in the mail. These are exciting times. Given the state of things in the world, I have enlarged my plans for this year’s vegetable garden. I’ve been scaling it back the last few years, but I feel the need to get big this year.

There are other big projects waiting for me in the days ahead. I need to build a pigpen. I need to finish burning the piles of debris from the trees we cut in the fall. There are stumps that need to be removed. I need to replace an arbor that has finally gone to rot after ten years. I need to build three more raised beds. In a few weeks, new trees and bushes will arrive and I need to prepare the places where I will plant them. And maybe, at last, we will build the greenhouse. If nature would oblige me with some warm sunny days, I would appreciate it.

One of the signs of spring I love most is the return of the birds. I have birds that keep me company at my feeders all winter long – chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, nuthatches, and various finches and woodpeckers – and I love them. But as spring approaches, the variety of my company increases. I can time the approach of the season as they appear. First come the red-winged blackbirds. They arrived here on the 7th. That morning there was one at the feeder. The next morning there were four and twenty (but not baked in a pie). I love to hear them singing in the treetops at dawn. Next came the robins. I saw them first on the 8th in a yard near Genesee on the way to church. The first one to come to my yard arrived on the 10th. Every morning now I find five or six of them feasting on shriveled fruit on a crab apple tree in the orchard. That same day, the 10th, the grackles showed up, glossy and amorous. I love to watch them courting one another under the feeders. On the 12th the killdeers flew in. I heard them while I was working in the garden, flying high above me crying ki-dee, ki-dee. I heard and then saw my first bluebird on the 13th. I hear geese passing overhead all day and even at night. Down on the Waterwheel Pond in Colesburg and in other places in the county there have been tundra swans stopping on their way north. Other waterfowl have returned too – some, like the mergansers, to spend the summer here and others just pausing to rest as they travel further on. As the days progress, there will be warblers and orioles and hummingbirds.

The red-winged blackbirds were first to return.

A male grackle displaying.

Amorous grackles courting.

Tundra swans on the Waterwheel pond.

Our peacock knows spring is coming. Ever since I let the flock out, he’s been displaying for the hens. Unfortunately, the hens are chickens and he is not. They ignore him. Plus, he hasn’t grown beautiful tail feathers yet, so his display is more comical than impressive. He needs a peahen to keep him company.

Our peacock showing off his sad tail.

On Thursday the First Presidency announced that church services are discontinued worldwide until further notice. Members are encouraged to worship in their homes. On Friday the governor of Pennsylvania closed the schools for two weeks. It seems things are shutting down all over. Here in Gold we are doing fine. We are doing what we can to stay healthy and praying for those who are suffering. As for our far-flung children, Geoffrey and his family, Rachel and her family, and Sarah and Tosh, and Daniel and Raven all report that they are weathering these present trials well. Hannah and Josiah report that classes at BYU-I have been switched to online only. We don’t know what will happen next semester. They already had tickets to come home for Easter. I think they will probably not go back.

It was a little strange not attending church in our branch today – we will not be gathering for some time to come. We had our own church service at home. We invited the other branch members who live near us, Nancy Jones and the Dunns, to join us. We sang hymns, prayed, partook of the sacrament, went through our Sunday School lessons together. It was a nice meeting. Long standing policies and recent changes in the church like the shift in emphasis to home-centered, church-supported gospel study have prepared us for this present situation. The Lord has inspired His prophet and the leaders of the church to prepare us for times like this. If we have heeded their words and prepared as they have asked us, we shall not fear.

With school canceled, I will have plenty of time in the days ahead to do things at home. On nice days, which will be  Monday and Wednesday according to the forecast for this week, I will work outdoors. In preparation for holding church here today, we did a pretty thorough cleaning of the living room yesterday – washing curtains, blinds, and windows, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. It put me in the mood to do some spring cleaning, so on the inclement days, I will be doing that. I love spring cleaning. I see on social media lots of suggestions, tips, and ideas for people to keep themselves busy and entertained while this situation lasts. I never have trouble finding things to do. I hope you are well and safe.