EMERGENCE

It is finally here... Spring. I feel like Cody, WY has been in a cocoon. A snowcovered, quiet, protected cocoon, and now it is happening: The emergence. The signs were small at first. Kids could be seen outside, riding bikes, running to a friend's house, ok, building snowmen. Then we heard the birds! One morning, waking up. "Ah! Do you hear the birds?!" They sounded SO good. Like heralds assuring our hopes. Some daffodills speared their way through the cold to brighten up the white and brown surroundings. Then a few days before Easter we had a "small" blizzard with 2 feet of snow, followed by brilliant blue skies, snowball fights, and sunburned faces. The snow melted and greened everything up. Willows around town began to leaf out in that color called "spring green". The deer appeared again on the streets of our town, and the antelope could be spotted again off the highways. Yet, I heeded the warnings that this was not it, and I had noticed no tulips blooms or tree blossoms. Sure enough, we woke up to 4 more inches of snow 2 weeks ago. But again, the sun came out and warmed everything up and deepened the pale green. A rabbit hopped across our street. So, in just the last few days, with 70 degree weather, I have delighted in seeing flowering plum, cherry, crabapple, lilac buds, tulips, the greening of the hills and mountains. I have taken a class on how to garden in Cody (it was a short class, haha) and have made my designs and budget. In the warm sunshine I have stomped on my shovel, turned up warming earth, pulled up sod and planted a tree, 3 shrubs, 2 small plants, 7 bulbs, and wiped my forehead with the back of a muddy glove. I have a farmers tan, and a red nose. The kids threw on their swimsuits, grabbed their water guns and squealed. Brandon spread the lawn with fertilizer and we took a walk hand in hand around the neighborhood, picking up landscaping ideas along the way. Of course, the laundry was late getting done, and the fridge needs to be cleaned out, and I didn't check my email for 4 days, but how can I resist the desire to go to the window and feel the sun, open the door and step outside, breathe the fresh air deeply, return the greetings from neighbors out doing the same thing, search for what can be next on my gardening to-do list, and work my muscles to exhaustion, preparing my own plot to resemble a fraction of that first garden, Eden? Welcome, Spring. We're so glad you've come.