i love this time of year! one day, i walk outside and everything is brown and dead. i look down closely at the ground and i can see tiny wisps of grass, clover, plantain, dandelion and chicory starting to poke their sleepy heads from the soil and i know, any day now, spring will arrive.

another day, i walk out to be greated by the site of new baby lambs or kids. it’s so much fun to see what new babies we’ll have and to try to guess how many lambs or kids a ewe or doe will have and if they will be a boy or girl and what color they will be!

also that day, there may also be a gentle rain, cool but not cold. the maple trees stop flowing and at the same time i strain my ears….did i hear them? yes! the peepers are back. the first evening i hear them, there are only a few present. the next day, the chorus starts and their song can be heard day and night. that’s when i know, it is here! spring is back once again.

and then, the next day, the sun comes out and i step outside to go gather eggs and everything is GREEN! fabulous! spring has finally arrived. the chickens are laying eggs with a furiousness that can only advent the return of the warmth and sunlight. the kids are dancing about, the lambs running around.

i eagerly walk through the herb gardens, marveling at the  herbs peeking out of the ground that weren’t there the day before. i see chickweed of course, he’s always the first to arrive! and plantain, and dandelion. the next day, motherwort, daylilies, bergamot and ooooh, hi there nettles! glad to see you! next comes feverfew, chives, calamus, wormwood, mugwort, betony and a whole litany following. each day, i greet old friends as they arrive from their journey back from the earth to spring up and dance in the golden sunlight and sparkling rain. glorious spring!