Today is Ostara

Today is Ostara, the spring equinox. Once more night and day, light and darkness, are in precise balance. After today the days will gradually get longer until we reach the summer solstice and then they will slowly shorten again until we reach the fall equinox. The cycle will repeat, as it has done for millennium upon millennium, and will continue to do for many, many more.

The Crone (winter) passes away today and the Maiden (spring) is born. The Light half of the year –the planting, growing half –begins today. Light and darkness, forever in balance. Without one, the other cannot exist. Life comes from death, just as death comes from life. Now is the time of the year to grow, to plant, to change. It is good luck to start a project on Ostara. Spring is here, so make the most of it. Go outside and play. Spring is here!

P.S. I’m planting my greens today. Yay!

Spring is Here!

Spring is well and truly here. I awoke this morning to find my peach tree awash in blossoms. The forsythia look like golden waterfalls and the daffodils are in full bloom. Even the hyacinths are getting into the act. Trees are budding out all over the place. It has been really mild here for the past several days -mid 60s, sunny skies. Tomorrow the spring rains begin. I can't wait. My seeds are on their way, so soon I'll be able to start planting in my temporary plot.

Part seven of the serial will be posted later. I start my new part-time job tomorrow so it may be Tuesday before I can finish editing part eight.

Spring is Coming

Narcissus, jonquil, paper-white, daffodil
It gives my heart such a thrill
To see you in bloom
On a cold winter’s noon

Together with the lowly crocus
The hyacinth and lovely iris
You are flowers fit for a king
And the heralds of another spring
-(Daffodil, a poem I wrote)

I am not a fan of winter. I know it is necessary and I try to grin and bear it, but there is always a part of me that looks forward to pulling out the box with the shorts and tank tops. By the middle of February I am ready for spring and I start looking around for the harbingers. We had a week of warm weather here and it is now cold again, but that is not enough to stop the daffodils. No sir and no ma’am –they are blooming big time. My own are not in bloom yet, but they are the kind that tend to bloom in the middle of March. Everywhere I go I see the pretty yellow and white flowers, nodding their heads in defiance of the cold. Yesterday I discovered the first tiny yellow flowers on my forsythia bushes. All the joints are swelling and soon they too will be in full bloom. And this morning I discovered the first hardy, determined little purple hyacinth blooming in the back yard.

It has been a pretty hard winter. But the Wheel always turns, and spring is coming.

In other news, I have gathered a few hundred dollars towards getting a piece of land. It is not what I need, but it is a start. And I have added several more things to my crafts website. Some of my soaps are up there now. Check them out: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6869280

The next part of Eddie’s story will be posted in a day or two.