2.28.2017

goodnight, february












 We had a warm February down here in Western NC.  I know many have, in many places.  Frighteningly many places, really.  This is the second year in a row that we haven't been able to tap the neighborhood sugar maples (we haven't had a long enough period of cold and then freezing nights and thawing days before the trees set bud).  I don't like having to buy maple syrup after making our own for three years, but that's not the real reason it bothers and worries me, of course.

 So yes, a sunny and mostly very warm February.  I actually didn't set out to sound so gloomy about it, but sometimes I can't help it.  I mean, who doesn't love sunshine on their shoulders, right?  But still........ ugh.  There are so many things out there, hugely important things, that rely on seasons and the appropriate playing out of natural rhythms in order to move along just right, and often I just can't help but feel anxious about it.

 Anyway- a February wrap-up, that's what this is.  And so here goes:  Claire invited a new neighbor over for a tea party (our new neighbor is a woman in her 60s who lives two doors down with her two miniature dachshunds.  Claire has become fast friends with all three of them, and it is quite sweet and reminds me of my own childhood friendship with an older next-door neighbor.  I need to tell some stories about Lulu, sometime......), we continue watching the birds regularly for Cornell University's Project Feederwatch, there are plants in sunny windowsills, eggs a plenty once again, daffodils blooming everywhere.  Witch hazel blossoms, and the plum tree, too.  Grape hyacinths, violets......... I've even spied a few dandelions.  A wonderful visit with a dear sweet baby cousin of Claire's and my lovely sister-in-law.  Seeds are started, peas and spinach have been planted, the garlic we planted in the fall has a solid 6" of growth peeking up through the leaves.  I have spent the whole month eating mostly broth and vegetables and meat and a bit of fruit and coconut thrown in.  I miss crunchy.  Maybe soon.  I've aimed to do yoga every day and just about made it.  Not quite, but pretty close.  I've read a few good books and just started another.  I suppose it is noteworthy as well that I wasn't sick at all this month.  A little scratchy throat from time to time- thwarted each time it would seem by a couple days of regular dosing of good homemade tinctures and extra tea and rest, but nothing that really got me down and out.  Looking back, it seems February is often a month that I finally succumb to a bit of wintry illness after thinking I've just about gotten away with not.  Not this year, though.

 She got a new jumprope for Valentine's Day and has been happily hop-skip-jumping around with it.  There have been several barefoot days.  There was even a day, last Thursday, when it hit the high 70s and we pulled out the blue plastic dollar store kiddie pool and Claire splashed around in it at lunchtime.  In February.

 The plum tree is out in all her glory now.  Just in time for a 28 degree night last weekend.  Things are still looking okay though- the bees were all over it today, their legs heavy with the bright pollen.  The tree looked almost as if it were buzzing itself there were so many honeybees and mason bees and various other pollinators on it.  I think we're supposed to be back into the low to mid twenties in a few nights, so........  we'll see.  We didn't get plums last year because of a similar pattern, so I'm not getting too hopeful.  We'll just see.

And now, March.



6 comments:

  1. Your pictures are stunningly simple and beautiful...and your words equally so:) Glad you had a good month health wise. My husband (a farmer) keeps telling me that if you study history that the weather cycles have always done this for periods at a time. I just don't want the ice and snow this late in the season. Maybe it is just an early spring:)

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    1. aw, thanks Terri~ I appreciate your kind words.

      Oh wouldn't that be nice if that were truly the whole picture? I've no doubt that there are historically natural cycles, but this....... well this unsettles me.

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  2. Gosh I'm so glad I'm not the only one that feels this way about it. It's nice to get outside and enjoy warm weather, but I am not convinced it is completely normal. Of course there are warmer winters and colder winters. Always will be. But global temperatures are rising. It just boring 'ole data, but according to NASA's website "The 10 warmest years in the 136-year record all have occurred since 2000, with the exception of 1998. The year 2016 ranks as the warmest on record." You can argue the cause, but not the data.

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  3. love your springy photos and that tea party with the neighbor makes my heart feel like its smiling... love. the weather...yikes. we had snow this year, but we had gone two years without any. we normally always get a warm sunny spell in january or february... but not this year. this year there is maybe a slightly warm sunny day here and there, then it's back to lots and lots of rain. i have found it so interesting comparing my own seasonal experiences to the different blogs that i read. it's always a treat catching up with you! *hugs* from the other side (of the country). ;)

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~