Looking closely…one way to Hush the Rush!

Oh March, you are certainly true to your nickname as the “Lion and Lamb” month! Just when I feel like winter’s sleet, hail, and bitter winds are here to stay, all of a sudden I find there is just the smallest hint of a warm breeze. Soon, I’m tempted to have the screen door open and to hang sheets on the clothesline. For me, March always seems to be a turning point…Spring is coming!  

As each season changes, we seem to sense “something”, although it can be difficult to pinpoint just what that “something” is. We just know. Somehow, in the larger picture, whether it’s a resting farm field, sleeping flowerbeds, or the absolute silence as we walk along a wooded path, we can just feel there is something we can’t quite yet see. 

Old-timers will tell us the key is looking closely for the signs…

-If the snow is melting around only the maple trees, sap is beginning to flow and warmer weather is on the way. 

-What about a change in a chickadee’s song? It’s said if you notice a slight difference, there’s a shift of seasons coming.

-Do you hear “peepers” in winding creeks, or from nearby lakes and ponds? The cheery song of little frogs is a sure sign of Spring. 

Farmers will often simply put a hand down to the ground to feel if it’s thawing. The signs are there…puddles of melted snow or slippery spots of mud. However; like the seemingly magic way to locate water that comes from a divining rod, placing a hand on the ground gives farmers an instant connection to Mother Nature. They just know. 

And while these ideas may seem simple and old-fashioned, I’ve always believed that farmers are connected to the rhythm and pace of the lands they have a stewardship over. If anyone would sense a shifting of seasons, a farmer would. They look, and listen, closely.

Here on my little farm, I need to get out in nature if I want to get a close look at the signs of change. Translation: I have to leave the cozy warmth of a crackling fire and get outdoors! 

Slipping on my boots and pulling a coat off its usual hook in the mudroom, I’m out the door. Before long I’m dodging areas of thick mud left from the melting snow and winding my way along a path that leads to the woods. Today I’ve decided I will set off in search of the forsythia bushes that are tucked in a corner where two old fence lines meet. Before long though, I give up trying to step around all of the mud and decide I might as well simply slip-slide through it – ahhh, the beginning of Mud Season!

I keep my eyes open, again, looking closely. If in bloom the forsythia would be easy to spot against the still leafless trees and brown landscape, but in March, I’m looking for a bush with little buds. Still walking alongside a soggy path, I work my way to the spot where I know they should be. Yes, there they are and happily covered in tiny buds! I snip a few branches and bundle them up for the walk back home. It’s a simple pleasure to arrange the stems in a pitcher of warm water and place them on a kitchen table. Again, I’ll need to look closely, and in a week or so, I’ll be rewarded as the buds bloom – just as we’re in the mood for a little Spring color!

It seems that after a long winter, this old house always needs a close inspection, and once again I find that it’s time to look closely. So, it’s up on ladders cleaning gutters, inspecting downspouts, and checking rooftops. With carefree abandon I sprinkle patches in the yard that need a little grass reseeding, rake away the fallen leaves of autumn, and find myself with muddy knees as I search for hidden perennial sprouts that are just beginning to peek out of their winter hiding spots.

Not to be forgotten, the inside of the farmhouse needs spruced up as well. And whether it’s a city apartment or a sprawling ranch, March stirs in all of us a need for an “eagle eye” when it comes to fixing, cleaning, patching, and painting…generally getting everything “gussied-up” for the warm weather to come! Once again, I take a hard, close look at everything around me and get busy. Finally, I step back, hands on hips, and glance around just one more time…am I missing anything?

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, all of the snapshots in today’s post are of a lovely pink Cosmos flower from last summer. In a deep cleaning of the mudroom, I came across a quite long forgotten package of seeds and thought, “Why not? They just might bloom.” And so they did…quite profusely in fact! As my kids would say when they were little, “Oh my dears to chicken ears!” as an exclamation of surprise; that’s exactly how I felt! They sprouted along the chicken run, beside the asparagus patch, and next to the rows of garlic. Oh-so tall and always swaying in the breeze, the flowers made me smile every time I passed by them.

This blossom in particular caught my eye…the lovely colors, the dewy droplets still clinging to the stem after a light rain, and there, at the very bottom, a drop of water just about to fall from the petal it clung to.

I had to slow down and look closely, or I would have missed it. And while I don’t recall why, I’m sure I was on my way to till the garden or pull some weeds, but for some reason I stopped for a better look.

That’s something I need to do more often…each day seems to fly by, and then the day is over before I realize it. Maybe it’s just me, but I think a good nudge to remember to stay in the moment, not rushing to move past it, is in order. I remember hearing, “Take time to soak in all the little things…this is life, don’t miss it.”

Wise words indeed, hmmm, now about this last photo…let’s take a close look as I really zoomed in on that droplet. What would I have missed if I’d continued to rush by?

Look at that little fella (or gal!) hiding in a delicately curled flower petal. I’m so glad I stopped to take a better look and could capture this picture that reminds me to:

“Look closely. The beautiful may be small.” 

—Immanuel Kant
1724-1804

What’s a farmgirl to do then, in this “hurry up” world we sometimes find ourselves in? There’s oodles of advice out there, we just need to find what works best for us. As for me, well, maybe multi-tasking just isn’t efficient all the time. Sure, there are days when we all have to juggle more than one thing, but I’m going to try not to make it a habit. And while I’m an endless list-maker, how about I whittle that daily list down to a sensible size? I can wake up a little earlier, laugh a little longer, and breathe a little deeper.

So, friends, what are some of your tried & true ways to Hush the Rush, as it’s called? I’d love to know what you do and any ideas you have..we can all learn from one another!

And so as March arrives, I hear the jubilant crows in the fields greeting one another with their chatty “Caw, Caw” and in the distance a buzzing chainsaw is cutting fallen tree limbs. In my own backyard, the garden tiller wakes up from its winter slumber as it sputters, catches, and rumbles; soon ready to be put to work.

Shoots of green are pushing their way through a lightly snow-covered herb garden and friends have begun to tap sugar maple trees. Mother Nature has enjoyed a long winter’s nap, and Spring is returning…what a joy to be a part of it all. 

Although it’s still a bit snowy on this early March day, I think it’s a fine time to bundle up and take a walk…I just never know what I might find, if I only look closely.

See you next month, with more “tails” from the farm!