going outside

bleeding heart / the dude, the cat - Mr. Oliver aver thyme / from a Cavallini butterfly calendar / the black velvet chicelet looking dusty in Doug's sun porch workshop / daffs / handsome Virgil - those eyes / that rose / Virg chillaxin' in the sunny workshop sun porch / tulips & Miss Dixon / Cavallini calendar / our magnolia's bloomin'

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

Rachel Carson

The air lately smells like grass and other living things. The great blue herons are back, as well as the kingfisher's and cormorants. Buds turn to blooms, bees bumble by, ants march on. I'm going outside today, this morning, there's rain in the forecast, lots of rain so I'm shifting my Creative Empire building schedule around so that I can make hay while the sun is shining. I'm in charge of the little vegetable garden this year, I have new annual beds to dig, to get ready for the zinnias, the cosmos, the poppies, calendula, morning glory, sunflowers + the wildflower mix. I have perennials to move & to divide. Shrubs to prune, mulch to spread. I am determined this spring/summer to be in nature as much as possible, to get dirty, to become lost in my own garden for it truly is my tonic - nature - a sure cure for darkness.

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

Margaret Atwood