Signs of Spring

Mornings these days when I walk to work are beginning to show more and more light as the sun rises earlier each day. At first the light was barely perceptible. Now it's definitely twilight as I begin my morning sojourn. Yesterday I noticed buds at the end of a low hanging branch. Today I saw a small plant pushing its green leaves up through the soil. Mother Earth is slowly making her way into a new cycle of bloom and birth. We still have five weeks more of winter but the change is already well under way.

I will miss the dark, though. Something about the dark seems to render the rest of the world inconsequential and makes the space I inhabit more comfortable. Not that I mind the light at all but when I want to think or relax, the dark gives me that opportunity.

All this at the end of a day that was mostly volunteer work with the Nature Conservancy at the Thurston County Glacial Heritage Preserve. I spent most of the day helping a 17 year old Boy Scout (or maybe Explorer) lay out and mark planting grids. He is arranging test plantings as his Eagle Scout project, which will help the conservancy determine something or other about how to restore native species to the prairie there.

Last month Maggie and I pulled scotch broom, an invasive plant that once dominated the area and planted a bunch seedlings of some sort. Today was easier but still involved a certain amount of bending and, for the last hour, pulling scotch broom. Today's weather was cool but pleasant. The sun was out off (mostly) and on although by day's end, skies are clear.

Another day toward the Equinox.