pushing up

look up. look down. it’s all around. emergent life. is there anything more hopeful than seeing new life unfurl? we fret. we hurry. we busy ourselves with the trivial. and yet, right in front of our noses, the entire northern half of the earth is springing to life in one giant choreographed progression. and meanwhile, the southern hemisphere exhales, and settles into a richly deserved rest.

sensitive ferns emergennt fronds

it’s official

it’s official. we have turned the corner. no more alarming forecasts. let the celebration of life begin! buckle up everyone. it’s a whirlwind for the next several weeks. then we can collectively sit back and sip aperol spritzes on the deck, and breathe in the sweet exhalations of all the plants that make life on this small blue-green planet possible. allelujah!

linden leaf buds

sunshine and possibility

the sun is out. the temps are climbing. my puggle is recovering. feeling energized and ready for anything. what a difference a day can make.

linden buds

a day of weeping

today i noticed that the weeping willows have sprouted their catkins. i also had to bring my 14 yr old beloved puggle to the vet to have three teeth pulled at 7 am. and then i got a call from mom with some worrisome and heartbreaking news about one of my siblings. rollercoaster day. looking forward to tomorrow.

weeping willow catkins

welcome to may

sort of a crazy image to start may with, but this is what caught my attention on my cold and windy walk today: over-wintered cattails standing tall over all the other bent and broken winter stems. what a challenging month of april we’ve had. i don’t want my daily missives to you to be a continual heart-cry about the climate. honestly, i don’t know if this april could be considered normal in any way or not. being land-locked in the middle of the north american continent as we are here in minnesota means wild weather swings are indeed quite a normal part of life here. but starting the month with near 90s, and ending this typical month of warming in the 30s doesn’t feel normal in any way. i don’t know what is going on in your bioregions lately, but i genuinely hope your situations is causing you less dread than mine.

cattails at the end of winter (typha)