Though still a time of snow and cold in many places, tomorrow, February 1st, is halfway between Winter and Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the day we turn the corner to look towards Spring.1
I love all the Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel and if I had to chose just one favorite, “The Corner” might be the one. It starts with Toad (ever the Eeyore) being so bummed out because his clothes are wet from the rain.
"I am all wet," said Toad. "The day is spoiled."
The ever hopeful Frog, who always sees the glass as more than half-full, reminds his dear friend that the rain will stop, his clothes will dry, and to have some tea and cake while he stands near to the stove.
"Have some tea and cake," said Frog. “I will tell you a story while you are waiting,".
The story Frog then goes on to share with Toad is of the time Frog’s father told him that Spring was just around the corner. As much as Frog looked, he couldn’t find Spring. He found trees, pebbles, grass, an an old worm asleep on a tree stump, wet mud, a lizard, but he didn’t find Spring. So, when it started to rain, he returned home, went around the corner of his house to find that the sun had started to come out.
"I saw birds sitting and singing in a tree. I saw my mother and father working in their garden. I saw flowers in the garden."
"You found it!" cried Toad.
"Yes," said Frog. "I was very happy. I had found the corner that Spring was just around."
Like Frog and Toad, I too love to go outside and look for the first precious signs of Spring. Leaves unfurling, crocus and snowbells, birds, longer days…
and seed catalogs…
although we’re still a long time off from planting as the root children are just beginning to awaken.
Tomorrow after my walk with GP on the bluff, I’ll come back to my cottage kitchen and bake a cake for tea time and perhaps some bannock, too.
And late tonight, like Earth Mother above, I’ll light a candle to remind me that deep down in the earth below the root children are stirring. Perhaps you might light one for them, too. 🕯
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February 1st is known as Imbolc in some traditions and is also the feast day of St Brigid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc
What an inspiring post. It is sometimes hard in the cold winter to remember that spring is around the corner. I am going to make a cup of tea and sit in the warmth of the sun coming from my window and dream of the things I will plant this spring. I can not tell you how much I love your newsletter. It always brightens my day and warms my heart with hope. Thank you for your newsletters and the chance to get to know you.🙂❤️
What a sweet post. Came across this:
Eight o’clock, no later
You light the lamps,
The big one by the large window,
The small one on your desk.
They are not to see by—
It’s still twilight out over the sand,
The scrub oaks and cranberries.
Even the small birds have not settled
For sleep yet, out of the reach
Of prowling foxes. No,
You light the lamps because
You are alone in your small house
And the wicks sputtering gold
Are like two visitors with good stories
They will tell slowly, in soft voices,
While the air outside turns quietly
A grainy and luminous blue.
You wish it would never change —
But of course the darkness keeps
Its appointment. Each evening,
An inscrutable presence, it has the final word
Outside every door.
— Mary Oliver