spring

27 02, 2023

Scents of Spring and Dirt

By |2023-02-26T07:44:05-06:00February 27th, 2023|A Writer's Life|3 Comments

Spring must seem lost for many of you who are buried under mountains of snow from blizzards. Down here where I live, the scents of spring are already in the air. Green sprouts dot bushes and trees and temperatures are pushing eighty degrees…in February!

judythemorgan.com We spent a day clearing winter’s carnage of dead leaves and pine needles from the flowerbeds and unlocked the pungent earthy aroma of the black earth. I inhaled the promise of spring’s colorful blooms as the scent of dirt filled my senses.

Memories floated in my head.

~Helping my grandmother weed her gardens.

~Making dirt mud pies and cakes for my siblings to sample.

~Planting seedpods so my children could watch a plant sprout and then produce something edible.

~Hiking in the woods with the pungent smell of years-old decaying leaves and stumps.

I still enjoy feeling dirt. The texture of lumpy clumps of rich, moist black dirt on my hands, with maybe an earthworm wiggling through. Powdery dirt flowing through my fingers when the ground is dry. Gritty dirt dying on my jeans after I’ve wiped my hands.

The earthy smells and memories make me smile.

This morning tiny tentacles of green, freed from all that weight, pushed upward through the dirt. There’ll be another wave of winter and the weeds will return, I’m sure, but today I see the promise of spring.

If you’re looking at snow, hang on spring will come. It always does.

8 01, 2018

Old Man Winter’s Arrived

By |2018-01-07T18:34:06-06:00January 8th, 2018|A Writer's Life, Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is over for another year. We’re settling into winter.

SOURCE: clipground.com/image-post/76271

Old Man Winter is playing hardball with the poor folks on the east coast. Even here in Texas, we had a full week where temperatures didn’t rise about freezing.

Our little arctic cold snap only lasted a week, but it wiped out many of my flowers even though I had lovingly covered them. Plants and houses and cars in Texas don’t do cold weather very well.

Some folks thrive in the cold weather. For those folks, winter means snow and snow brings skiing and ice skating, snowmobile rides, curling up by a fire with a good book, and the peaceful silence of a walk after a fresh snowfall.

Others dread the winter with its snow and wild weather. All they can think about is shoveling, snow blowing, icy roads, and frigid temperatures.

I like winter with its cooler temperatures. I didn’t even mind the shoveling and snow blowing when we lived where it snowed. I avoid icy roads by huddling inside with a roaring fire and a good book. And, I positively love the aroma of a good soup or stew simmering in the crock pot on a chilly day.

Another thing I like about winter is the slower pace.

Animals are hibernating, trees have shed their leaves, and daylight hours are shorter. Nature beds down for winter, storing energy for spring.

Perhaps we should mimic Mother Nature and use wintertime to renew ourselves. Get more sleep, read more books, and eat good soups. Take a step back from busyness and noisy days to replenish our spirit in the quiet and calm of winter.

I’m thinking if we did, the arrival of spring would likely find us refreshed and energized ready for its promise and possibilities.

What do you think?

19 03, 2014

Bye, Bye Winter Bye, Bye

By |2014-03-19T06:00:53-05:00March 19th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Tomorrow, March 20 spring arrives with the vernal equinox on at 12:57 P.M. EDT.

To say good-bye winter, I offer this fabulous Piano Guys video actually filmed on the ice in the snow.

Let It Go (Disney’s “Frozen”) Vivaldi’s Winter

I don’t know about you, but I’m very, very happy the snow and the ice will soon be gone.

I can’t wait to see the little daffodils popping out. How about you?
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