Yesterday, I took my walk in the evening. It had been a hot day and after spending the morning in town, I returned home and labored in the gardens. It seems every winter the snow covers a nursery hotbed of dandelions and sheep sorrel. It can be a nice chore to try to eliminate them in the early spring before it is really time to do much planting. I enjoyed the hot sun on my back, listening to the birds, and checking out my ever-improving soil. And, the chickens enjoyed getting some fresh greens in their pen, as that is where I dumped the weeds.

On the walk through the woods to my daughter’s house , I discovered that the trailing arbutus had blossomed. It was my mother’s favorite spring flower, and yesterday was the anniversary of her death. I held still for a joyous moment of remembrance and honoring a woman that instilled much that is good in me, including my love of the natural world. I may have grumbled and complained as a teen when she had our entire lawn tilled so she could plant perennials, and groundcovers. Then in the next house the neighbor’s crumbled and complained when she let the back yard turn to a field of black-eyed susans.

I looked at the “new den” being dug. There seemed to be more activity there, yet it seemed less like the creation ofa home. Maybe the animal found a good cache of insects, or some other fancy treat. I will continue to monitor the changes that are going on.