winter is winter is winter

these winter stems could have come as easily from the hedgerows surrounding our village in the languedoc, as from the northern prairie trails they where I found them. although my current view out over a frozen lake does not look like a blue mediterranean sky over a stone courtyard wall, the weeds themselves look surprisingly similar in their winter dormancy. tomorrow my husband and i emerge briefly from our own winter dormancy to work on one of our recurrent five year plans. they are nerdy and very satisfying and, at this age, feel increasingly necessary to stay focused on what’s important. i hope a few green shoots emerge from our talk, so that i can look forward to a fruitful spring of new and enhanced directions for our joint life together.

winter prairie stems