“With the first signs of spring, we plow the earth and it plows something into us. Growing things seems natural, a distinctly human act, part of our desire to reflect, build and create. But nurturing seems out of place in our fast-paced, high-tech information age. Gardens foster connections based on slow timelines, much like learning.” David Mas Masumoto, Letters to the Valley: A Harvest of Memories (public library)

I did not plow today, this first day of spring, but I did walk around the yard taking note of all the work that needs to be done. As the crocus fade, the hyacinth are ready to burst into bloom any day now. Both have pushed their way past the dead, brown remnants of fallen leaves and stalks we never bothered to clear in the fall. Much of the yard looks similar with bits of green poking through half-frozen earth, beds in dire need of tending.

Bettina pruned the apple tree last weekend. We will warily watch its buds and blossoms and the weather, hoping this will be the year it makes it through unscathed by frost or an April snowstorm. Here, on the first day of spring, I am already thinking of fall and the taste of crisp, tart apples.