We’ve come to the last week of March now. It’s been a rough month. Winter has managed to stay with us through the whole thing. It seems to be in retreat a bit now, but it’s moving slowly and I’m not getting my hopes up too much. I’m sure there’s still a few more snowy days in store for us in April. Some of the snow has melted, but there’s still plenty around. The snow melted from the front flowerbed and I was happy to see the snowdrops there, though they look a little ragged. The lower part of the long garden is free from snow for now. As soon as the ground was clear, the crocuses began to emerge. More migratory birds are returning. The chipping sparrows showed up at my feeders on Thursday. They are the smallest of our sparrows and have a pretty chestnut cap. I was glad to see them.
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| The snowdrops out of the snow again. |
One of the indicators that the season is progressing has begun down at the barn. The hens, in response to the lengthening days, are laying more eggs. I get between twenty and twenty-four eggs a day now. That number will get even higher between now and midsummer. I’ve even been able to sell more eggs lately. I have several customers who buy three or four dozen a week. That still leaves us with plenty of eggs for our own use.
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| A plethora of eggs. |
Last week I started the first of the seeds that will grow in my garden this year. I cleaned and set up my seed trays and grow lights and planted a tray of 60 snapdragon seeds. Snapdragons need to be started ten weeks before Planting Out Day and we are at that point now. Planting Out Day is ten weeks from now! – that seems hard to believe. But I feel like I’ve struck a blow against the cold and snow. I will start more seeds every week now until Planting Out Day comes at the end of May.
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| The first of the seed trays planted. |
There were reports of tundra swans in the area last week, so yesterday afternoon we took a drive to see if we could find some. We drove over toward Wellsboro in Tioga County, then turned north on Highway 287 toward Middlebury Center. We came to State Game Land 313, a place called The Muck, and there they were – several dozen beautiful tundra swans. They are big, majestic birds. It was odd to see them and think they were just stopping to rest on their way to spend the summer above the Arctic Circle. We drove to a few other places after The Muck, but didn’t see anymore swans. Even so , it was a nice drive. I was glad we saw them.
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| The Muck. |
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| Tundra swans on the Muck. |
A few weeks ago I was asked to speak in church today so I spent a lot of my free time last week working on my talk. I was asked to speak on the events we commemorate on Palm Sunday. We don’t formally observe Palm Sunday like other Christian churches do with palm fronds and processions and all that, but we do recognize its importance in the ministry of the Savior. I also spoke about some of the other events that occurred in the days between Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the atonement and crucifixion later that week. I love this time of year when we celebrate the Lord’s victory over the grave.
On Friday night, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed Handel’s Messiah. It started late for us – 9:30 p.m. and was over two hours long. We started watching it, but we’re too tired to watch to the end. Now the concert is available online on demand, so this evening we will be watching it in its entirety. You can watch too anytime between now and midnight on April 9th at LDS.org. It’s a great way to get into the spirit of Easter.
This is a bright and sunny Sabbath day, but it isn’t warm. As we got home from church, I stepped over to look at the crocuses in the long flowerbed. They haven’t opened yet, but they are trying. They brought me cheer. The week ahead looks a little warmer, in the 50's and maybe some rain. Maybe the snow will all be gone by Easter and more flowers will be open by then. That would be nice. It seems fitting that the world should stir to life again at Easter. It fills me with hope.
On Friday night, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed Handel’s Messiah. It started late for us – 9:30 p.m. and was over two hours long. We started watching it, but we’re too tired to watch to the end. Now the concert is available online on demand, so this evening we will be watching it in its entirety. You can watch too anytime between now and midnight on April 9th at LDS.org. It’s a great way to get into the spirit of Easter.
This is a bright and sunny Sabbath day, but it isn’t warm. As we got home from church, I stepped over to look at the crocuses in the long flowerbed. They haven’t opened yet, but they are trying. They brought me cheer. The week ahead looks a little warmer, in the 50's and maybe some rain. Maybe the snow will all be gone by Easter and more flowers will be open by then. That would be nice. It seems fitting that the world should stir to life again at Easter. It fills me with hope.
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| Crocuses trying. |
