We have spent the last few days watching an excavator, a bobcat, and multiple dump trucks digging up our backyard to put in a new septic system.  John has been able to be very practical about this ~ we truly need this work done (I know that), the grass will grow back (I know this, too), and now we have a lot of dirt to fill in the many holes around the farm. (This is true; we now have a lot of dirt to fill in holes. LOTS of dirt, sitting in big mounds beside the swimming-pool sized scar on our land that’s currently filled with gravel.) Can you tell I’m not happy about all this? 

So yesterday, I decided to pretend it’s Monday and look on this situation from a “blank-canvas” perspective. We can do anything on this site now, although we’ll probably just help our backyard grow back.  And I’ve got to say, changing my perspective was helped tremendously by a large packet of seeds that arrived in the mail. 

I’ve always seen the arrival of seeds as a signal that we’re close to the edge of winter. The plan for the gardens takes on an immediacy now, and I can see the slightest deepening of the yellow of the male Goldfinches’ feathers and the red of the House Finches’ feathers.  Every creature knows that we’re approaching the downslope of winter.  

January 15th was the mid-point of meteorological winter this year, and we can already see the lengthening of the day during evenings on the farm. February 2nd will be the next mark ~ St. Bride’s, or Candlemas Day.  I’ve always loved the saying, “Half of the wood and half of the hay you have to have on Candlemas Day.”  Before this year, it made me imagine life on a farm during the cold times; these days I appreciate the saying much more! 

In a few more weeks, we’ll really begin clicking down our tasks for spring. We’ll look for a cloudy day in February so we can prune the grape and berry vines; we’ll find time to take the riding mower in to be serviced; we’ll start clearing all the branches and small trees that have fallen down in the winter winds and been buried by snow. 

Until that time, we’ll shuffle the seed packets, design the herb and flower gardens, and wonder to each other where we’ll really plant all the little trees and vines and roses and lilacs that will arrive soon because we might have gotten a touch carried away. We’ll make meals with last year’s harvest, and we’ll plan the coming year’s harvest. And when we order more seeds for our cover crops, we’ll remember to add a large bag of grass seed for the backyard.