Sunday, February 04, 2007
No Room For Pessimists
On a day when the temperature may not struggle above zero, when it is to get to minus nineteen tonight, gardeners may be forgiven for wondering what possible reason they have for living in the upper midwest. I guess there is a certain grim beauty here even at times like this; last night, with temperatures so cold that the wooden back steps creaked and squealed when you stepped on them, under a bright full moon the barred owls were having a cackling hootfest in the tall oak trees. The moonlight reflected off the frozen pond, and filtered into the dark ravines, where the rabbits listen warily to the owls calling. Hardly a night for a dreamy stroll in the garden, but we will endure; spring will come, the birds will sing again, and daffodils will wave in the warm breezes above beds of blue squills. There is no room in gardening in the midwest for pessimists. 
// posted by IBOY @ 6:12 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
Amen from one who lives within 100 miles of your dot on the gardening map. No room for pessimists indeed. P.S. A nice big pot of soup helps staying positive whilst we wait for spring easier.
It feesl quite funny to think of all the folk in Iowa out looking at that moon, when I see it from my Alpine peak in Switzerland but always think of how the full moon felt bigger when I was a kid in Iowa, and stories of it being made of cheese or wood seemed so plausible. I shot photo after photo the last two nights of the moon over my half-frozen pond, for our winter is far too mild, with little snow. I threw them away in the end. Digital cameras aren't happy trying to focus on the un-solid things in life and our pond, fed by an underground mountain stream, shimmered and shifted and the moon never stayed still in its reflected state. We don't have rabbits and we don't have owls, things I once thought were fixtures of nature. Nature shifts, around the globe. I can close my eyes and snuggle with those old Iowa pals, even now. Thanks, Don, for the reminder.
Yes, yes, yes. Spring was never so welcome as when coming after a cold, bleak and endless Winter. I remember Iowa winters and don't envy you even if Spring is exuberant and a godsend.
Dori... I hope for your sake you live 100 miles SOUTH of here!
Ki... I have to admit, winters here have greatly lost their appeal... bring on global warming.
Ellen... prolly not a good time to complain your winters are too mild; unless you want a house guest.
Don
Ki... I have to admit, winters here have greatly lost their appeal... bring on global warming.
Ellen... prolly not a good time to complain your winters are too mild; unless you want a house guest.
Don
Well, I don't know if I'm within 100 miles but it's colder than I have ever seen it and it's hard to imagine the birds singing again, much less the dreamy stroll! Thanks for reminding me of better days to come, Don! I sure needed it today!
Post a Comment
<< Home
