First of the first

In a typical spring I see pussy willows at least a week before the maple blossoms swell. But this year was different, and the first buds/blossoms I saw were these silver maples. You can see they are ready to burst open, and tomorrow I will show you what happened when they did. Bursting buds are not the first signs of spring; Where I live I tend to look for signs of spring in this order: tree circles, darkening willow and red osier dogwood stems, swelling buds, returning canada geese, returning red-winged blackbirds, the sounds of tinkling meltwater…and then the pussy willows and maple blossoms. The order can vary year-to-year, but rarely does. I think of it like a chain of dominos set in motion–one event begetting the next, and so on. Spring happens fast in the North. And after my year of distraction, I am here for it.

silver maple blossoms in March

Hi All!

I am back. I waited for the Vernal Equinox because it felt was the symbolic and right threshold date. I have not announced my return anywhere else yet. I am going to take this slowly at first and see how it feels. Last year was one of the hardest years I have been through in my 61 years, and I am still quite fragile. So I don’t want to make any big promises just yet. But for the time being, I will be posting here daily, just like I used to. You can see, I have switched to black. It also feels symbolic and right after the fire, but truth be told, I had planned to switch to black after the book came out (and prior to the fire). You will all be hearing much more about all of this as I move forward here. Baby steps for now. But it feels really good to be here with you again! I missed you all so much!
xoxo
Mary Jo

blossom and bud

i see a mother and a daughter. what do you see?

pink magnolia

firethorn bush

unfurling