#139: We're Halfway There

February 1st is halfway through Winter!

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

From "Around the Year" by Elsa Beskow

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…

Flowering currant leaves unfurling at Pie Cottage. (Photo by me)

and seed catalogs…

From A Gardener’s Alphabet by Mary Azarian

although we’re still a long time off from planting as the root children are just beginning to awaken.

“Earth Mother comes with a candle and her little firefly helpers to tell them that they must be up and at work for it will soon be Spring.” —-from When the Root Children Wake Up (Text by Helen Dean Fish and Pictures by Sibylle v. Olfers)

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.

#134: Oatcakes

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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1. February 1st is known as Imbolc in some traditions and is also the feast day of St Brigid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc