I had some rather lofty gardening goals heading into the weekend. Though it's far too early for me to be planting here, I thought I could at least get out there and clean up, prepare for the work to come, I thought. I am so longing to get my hands in the dirt and get to work on all of that. But then this happened (see above), and we laughed and thought, "Oh, but of course! It's still only just April," as we recalibrated our plans to fit the weather.
And back inside we were, with energy going toward spring cleaning and tidying and purging and a bit of repair and redo on the woodstove and hearth, which is coming off another long winter season spent working hard for us. Wandering wood chips of winter contained, stove polished, floors scrubbed and hearth tiles freshly painted. It's amazing to me to think about how this little corner of our home, the place at the center of our days and nights all fall and winter long, is soon to sit dormant and quiet in seasons of spring and summer to come. Cleaning this corner each spring season seems such a symbolic gesture of gratitude and care, and a marker of time.
Ah....yes, this is what April work is really about here. Cleaning up from the season behind us, and readying for the next. Right now is the time for all of that - waiting, preparing, building excitement all the while.
It won't be long now, it really won't, before our hands are deep in the earth planting, and all of our energy is shifted out of doors. For now, we clean up from the season we're leaving behind, we wait as patiently as we can, and we enjoy - oh so much - the tiny glimspes we can get of spring. A taste of what's to come.
