i heart spring

i remember why spring is my favorite season.

we just spent 10 days in seattle. it was the last two weeks of february and spring was already there.

crocus dancing in full color, forsythia budding, rhododendrons in bloom and bud, flowering cherrys beginning to burst, new growth was everywhere.

and everything else was green.

we pruned and weeded the gardens. we dug up crunchy carrots. we took walks in the woods. while the kids rested, i read on the back porch in glorious sunshine (yes, i did have a blanket and a hot drink, but i was outside!)

and then seattle got their second snowstorm of the season. seattle doesn't get much snow. what they do get is wet and heavy and usually gone by noon.

tangent: seattle gets a lot of criticism about their reactions to snow,particularly the drivers. i was reminded how dangerous it really can be. the snow is wet, but often re-freezes overnight creating a sheet of ice on very hilly terrain. this is a bad combination even if you have four-wheel-drive. since they rarely get snow, there are only a couple plows, a few salt/sand trucks. it is very different from areas where snow is common and there is equipment to handle the road conditions. just saying, don't knock it until you try it.

we rolled the head of a snowman to uncover green grass underneath. then dug a carrot out of the garden, cleaned it off in the snow and stuck it in the snowman's face.

that's when i realized i really miss spring. this snow stuff i was playing in felt like the spring i get in Minnesota (except this kind of snow wouldn't come until the end of march and underneath is dead, brown grass and it takes another month or two AFTER the snow melts for the earth to thaw and life to grow!) essentially, we don't get spring in minnesota. last year it lasted exactly one day, then went right into summer heat. i miss spring. it was my favorite season. having this little taste of REAL spring (sans the very out of place snow storm) brought back that sweetness.

being outside in a sweater instead of a coat

working in the garden before there is anything to plant,

then starting the garden with a small crop of cold loving veggies before going gangbusters.

splashing in rain puddles

cool rain

green as the backdrop for everything

color emerging slowly

no, you can't really grow a good tomato in seattle. you look out the window on summer mornings before you put on short and flip flops. fall color often gets washed away with a good rain. seattle isn't a winter wonderland.

but spring in seattle shines!