Generally March

We've been here five years this month! Wow. Five years. That seems to have slipped right on by. One of the nice things about being in the same place for five years is learning to spot the rhythms and routines in that area. For example, it's March. This means several things, here:

We had temps in the teens not two weeks ago, but everything is budding out now. En masse. Happens every year and it still blows me away. It's like Mother Nature's hosting a foot race. (And we're going to lose. We do every year. But it's fun, now that we know what's going on.)

We still have no clear idea when the proper time is for pruning. We really hope it wasn't back when everything was still frozen, because it's hard to prune from inside your home.

When the weather changes from winter to spring temperatures, it seems to do so overnight. You sit through practice Friday evening, buffeted by cold, biting winds, surrounded by others with cold-induced runny noses, watching the kids through squinty, tear-filled eyes. Saturday, you can stand in the sunny spots with just a windbreaker, and as long as the shadows don't catch you, it's a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

There's *always* practice in the Spring. Always.

There will be one more cold snap. It won't come until we've put away the winter coats, but it will come. Out of nowhere. And it'll be COLD.

The Auburn v. Alabama game is played in the first week of April. I learned this, not because we watch the game, but because that's the signal to get your garden in the ground.

Poison Ivy leafs out last. I suspect that's so it's more difficult to spot it from a distance and have any hope of eradicating it.

The compost pile is about to really kick into high gear. We'll be glad we kept feeding it all winter, because this is the only time we'll be able to keep up with it.

Kids have no concept of weather patterns. They spend all winter outside, in the fairly cold weather, then spend most of April complaining about how hot it is. How they forget August is beyond me, but they do. It makes me laugh (as I throw them outside).

March is a very difficult time to stick to the lesson plans. It's gorgeous. The kids aren't complaining about the "heat" yet. There are robins and cardinals busily getting down to business. The sunshine through the branches makes an inviting path in the woods. The grass is still low enough not to lose anybody, and the days are so calm you can hear the creek burble quietly through the woods. It's a good time to take advantage of all that Springtime in the South has to offer.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy