Spring Blues and Greens

Spring officially arrives one week from today. You'd think I'd be energized by the fact. Instead I'm lagging and it shows. I've lost my momentum, and I'm too tired to do anything about it.

I always find the switch to Daylight Saving Time difficult. That loss of an hour throws me right off. My body doesn't know when to sleep or when to eat. My slim grasp of things temporal slips. I know it will get better, and I'm already appreciating the longer daylight hours in the evening, but the first few days are rough. This year the adjustment to the new time has been made even more difficult by interrupted sleep. 

Monday morning brought with it an immense wind storm. The wind battered and rattled the house so viciously that I was awakened by items falling off my shelves. The windows weren't open. This wasn't the wind blowing things around in the house. This was the sheer force of the wind shaking the house until things inside shifted. I thought it was an earthquake. Scary. Considering some of the damage others experienced I'm very lucky that the only thing that suffered was my sleep.

Tuesday brought a different kind of wake-up call. It was my day off, and I really thought I'd get to sleep in a bit. No luck. This time my sleep was interrupted by the call of the wild: a flicker had decided that my chimney was just the right spot to attract a mate. The crazy beastie was up there drumming like he was channelling Keith Moon. So much for sleeping in!

Both the storm and the horny wildlife are signs of spring, but given the lack of sleep it took me until this evening to realize it. Once I clued in I headed out to the garden to see what was coming up. All the green was just what I needed to melt away the exhaustion-induced blues.  

New growth on the bay laurel.

Strawberries peeking through the leaves.

That strange red blob is rhubarb! Transplanted it at an odd time last year. So glad its making an appearance. 

Rather out-of-focus oregano.

Chives. You'd never know I've already been harvesting these. They grow that fast.

A row of parsley that didn't thrive last year somehow made it through the winter and is showing signs of life.

Either spinach or chard. I didn't label it, as I didn't expect to see it.