If you celebrate Easter -- happy Easter. May there be chocolate eggs and storybook bunnies in your day. May you find joy.
I was told in Grindelwald that tradition has it that there will be a snowstorm right around Easter. And I know they did have one just a day or two ago. Well, tradition has it here in south central Wisconsin, that there will be cold wet weather on Easter. I don't wake up to it, but it gets here soon enough.
What I do wake up to is a sick Ed (some bug, not Covid) and a fairly decent morning out there. Maybe I can get some stuff done today after all?
Breakfast: Ed gets up for it but just barely.
We talk about trees -- a recurring topic. I push for some pruning, he resists. And since he has veto power, nothing much happens until the next time I bring it up. (He claims to have given in plenty of times. I do not remember this. I only remember my failed efforts!)
As if to compensate for his stubbornness though, he asks me if maybe I'd like to eliminate the wide path between two beds that do still get a reasonable amount of sunshine. We don't use the path much, but navigating flower fields without one can be tough. Nonetheless I agree to it. More space for growing things! It is an offer I cannot refuse.
After breakfast I head out to Kopke's Greenhouse. I need to start filling the tubs with baby annuals. This is always a risky proposition because it is entirely possible to get a frosty night all the way until mid May, but I'm going to bet against it. We're due for a warm up! Gardening is a chancy thing. (Let's hope I'm right.)
I drive up to the greenhouses too early. Different holiday hours! Well that's okay, I can go for a quick walk along a nearby trail and wait for them to pop open their doors at 9:30.
It is a very successful shopping adventure. Eighteen pots and tubs to fill and I think I've got now the foundational plant for each. And the greenhouses are empty today! I suppose people are Eastering it up. Me, I cannot imagine a better way to spend this morning -- among flowers, with hope for the season before me.
Toward the end of the afternoon, the young family comes over (at long last!) for dinner...
... and for an Easter egg hunt. I'm not the hider, the dad is. I gave him free reign of farmette lands, so long as everyone stays away from the flower fields!
Since Ed is feeling pretty down and out, he stays away from our gathering. Looks like he'll be staying away from a bunch of things today and tomorrow! (More on that later.)
The young ones leave, I tidy up and I sit down in my usual preferred spot on the couch. Time to think a little -- about the years leading up to this day, about the days going forward. This is what I love to do on the eve of my birthday.
There is, of course, a lot to process: it's not been a calm year for Americans. And yet, in our coming together (and I do feel that there is energy in the movement to oppose the horror show), I see hope. The destructiveness, the hatred and evil in those that promulgate it -- they're having their moment, but I'm confident it wont last. All the good stuff -- the wisdom, sound knowledge, concern for the welfare of your neighbor, of our planet -- they're on our side. They're not going anywhere.
It feels good to be on the right side of history.
with love...
