Winter

The clever title eluded me this morning as I sat down to try to focus my thoughts about Winter.  We are having some atypical freezing weather and I think that has me Winter-biased and a little confused.  Sure, we usually get a cold day or two, but the clear skies and hard frosts are not generally our Pacific Northwest way.

Teri has been out in the sunny, frigid garden the past couple days while I have been working long hours.  For her, spending the day in the rare mid-Winter sun was more important than the layers of clothes she needed to keep her warm.  Besides, as she weeded the herb beds, packed straw around plants to protect them a bit from the cold and worked on cleaning up some recycled wood we hustled, her report is it kept her warm enough to make it worth it.  Besides, the outside critters truly enjoyed the company!

The cold has found me in a different place.  Since I am unable to play outside, I've been reading gardening, organic and urban farming magazines and grumbling about how my healthy January diet is making me feel extra cold.  Yay for the delicious home-baked bread and soup, but, sheesh, a hamburger would likely keep my old parts warmer!

Since I am the first one up on Winter mornings, I get to do the "farm" chores, so I do get a bit of the seasonal connection to our earthy lifestyle attempts.  This morning, (since we were out late at a work event last night and we forgot to bring them all in), I brought in all the frozen water/liquid receptacles and cleaned all the ice out, washed and filled them with fresh and warm.  The chickens, the outdoor cats and, even the hummingbirds, now have warm beverages to keep them going.  I admit, I felt a bit studly as my slippers scrunched across the frozen grass while I fed, fluffed and watered everyone.  Not so studly when I nearly slipped on the frosty deck. My furry red robe would have been less than appropriate covering had I ended up "ass over teakettle" (as my mother used to say) on the back porch!

So, it's almost time to start the indoor seeds; we're really trying to get a couple new garden beds built; we know we have to get our bee hive built; and it will soon be time to prune the fruit trees. We know Spring is only weeks away and yet, it is tough to see the Spring for all the Winter we are living right now. It still gets dark hard and fast too early every night, it is tough to creep out of bed into dark and grey mornings, the ground is frosty and the air is cold.  Gloves, scarfs, hats and boots are not exactly what one imagines to be the optimal gardening costume. Still, time is turning, the sun is shining and Winter will soon shake off her frosty cape and we need to have ourselves ready to slip sloshily into Spring!