Just an ordinary Spring day

Along the edge of the blacktop, at the top of the roadside ditch, teeny, tiny leaves have emerged during the past 24 to 48 hours, no doubt aided and abetted by this week's rain. The maple leaf buds have exploded and erupted. Bare branch winter outlines of trees are softening as bud burst begins.

Canada geese seeking a nesting site

Photo by J. Harrington

Geese are nesting. The North Country is becoming full of life again. The rain this week has brought water levels up in local streams and ponds. It's even noticeable in our back yard wet spot which, we think, is an indication of a high water table. Meanwhile, ruby-throated hummingbirds are edging closer but are only about half-way up the Mississippi River's watershed. The earliest pictures we have of hummers at our feeders are from mid-May.

The bread we baked this week turned out well. We had drifted away from anything like a regular pattern of feeding starters, mixing dough, proofing dough and baking bread. The starters needed much TLC to become lively again. Now we need to get our rhythm back. Both the Better Half's cassoulet and our artisan bread were unqualified successes the other night. We have weeks to go before it gets too hot to bake so skills that had become rusty can be repolished, or at least buffed up a little.

What We Need Is Here

by Wendell Berry

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

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