Even before I notice the spring peepers calling from the ponds in the horse pasture near our neighborhood, or see the buds on the daffodils, I know the winter is over because the giant silver maple tree outside my front door drops thousands of buds. I'm not sure if the birds are causing this, as the tree is full of noisy birds, so maybe I need to pay special attention to see if I can catch them in the act.
I asked google if it was normal for a maple to lose so many buds, since it appears that these buds have not yet opened to form flowers, but the only answers I got were people complaining about the mess. I don't mind it at all. I'm so glad to know the trees are waking from their winter slumber, that I welcome the excuse to sweep the porch in the spring air.
Even though it's been raining and cloudy, and the lawn is squishy with the recent rain, Puck and I are excited to tour the yard taking photos of flowers and rocks instead of snow and ice.
I've been taking careful notice of all the places water stands after the rain. As lovely as the water is, I am aware that mosquito season is upon us. Jamie and I saw small blue butterflies this week while working in the field, and last night, when I went outside wearing my headlamp to check on the chickens, a moth fluttered around my face. I found a cricket in the shower this morning, and a tiny spider slowly descended on a long web right in front of my face while I was brushing my hair. The bugs are back. The flowers are back. The trees are budding. It feels like the whole world is alive!
Speaking of life... I opened a capped bottle of my home brew kombucha that I allowed to sit out on my counter for over a month, and it sprayed all over my kitchen! It was extra fizzy- extra alive. Now I know that more than a month is too long for a secondary ferment without going in the refrigerator first to calm the activity of the organisms. Even after cleaning up the mess, what was left of the kombucha in the bottle was extra fizzy. And tartly delicious!
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