Winter Notes: These Cross-Quarter Days

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February 3: Cross-quarter days  We’ve gotten past about the longest January I think I can remember. The cold, the snow, the dreadful events impossible for any decent person to turn away from. The resultant grief. Offering support to those caught in this vortex of cruelty and violence visited on so many by the government is necessary—and somehow not enough. And yet. Just the other day I noticed that it was still light at 5 pm. Surprise! The dark post-solstice January pause is over; suddenly we’re at the cross-quarter days.  I say days advisedly: we are halfway between the solstice and the spring equinox, but measurement, like everything else I’ve ever heard of, depends on your perspective. Time, day and season depend on where you are, which calendar you use, even which astronomical calculations. St. Brigid's day is February 1,  and Groundhog Day is, of course, February 2, as is Candlemas. These are based on the Gregorian calendar, and are not quite the same as Imbolc,...
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Spring Firsts

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I love the first occurrences that welcome in a new season. Here are some for this spring:
Saturday I saw my first bumblebee emerge from under some fallen leaves, totter about, and then fly off at speed. Bumblebee (Bombus ssp.) queens over winter in underground burrows and emerge at this time to search for a good place to lay eggs and rear young. Maybe it was a spring first for her too.

Yesterday, I planted some leaf lettuce in a big pot and then put wire mesh weighed down with half a brick on top to keep the hungry birdies out. It was one of those days on which you could look at a tree in the morning and when you looked again an hour later the leaves were visibly larger. In the afternoon several family members and I sat out on the front porch for the first time and watched the first real thunderstorm of the season blow in from the south. Good cracking thunder and netted lightning, and later on, steady rain, to which comfortable drumming I fell asleep.

Related Posts:
Sandhill Cranes and Spring Resolutions
Happy Spring!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Dear Adrian, I feel quite inspired with the idea of growing lettuce in a container and intend to discuss the matter with J, my gardener/handyman, at the first possible opportunity. A brilliant idea, and a space saving one too.

I love the sound of heavy rain falling, always believing that it is doing good.
April 6, 2010 at 12:10 AM
Adrian Ayres Fisher said…
Hi Edith, I find that the bunnies then don't eat my lettuce--and it looks pretty, too. (After it germinates I take the wire mesh off.)
April 6, 2010 at 1:22 PM
RURAL said…
Adrian, I must remember to get out there and plant my lettuce. I plant in containers also, and they definitely save space.

It's a magical day when the bumble bees first come out, and the leaves almost visibly change in front of us. Those are some of the great reasons we garden.

Jen
April 7, 2010 at 10:03 AM
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