Warm Dirt

“One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of the March thaw, is the spring.”–Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac

I saw my first geese of the year two weeks ago, on our way home from work right before the awful March blizzards. They were flying high above the prairies, a moving smudge in a  telltale ‘V’, but there was so much snow around–and so much more to come as per the weather forecast–that I figured I must be mistaken. Well, they’re here now. We’ve all heard their happy honking far off in the distance. It’s true then, that winter will end.

Another sign? Our first green egg. The sun-loving Araucana mutt hens have finally started ponying up their precious colourful bounties.

Our project list is growing with the daylight. Build a greenhouse. Mend fences. Shear sheep. Order meat birds. Build moveable meat bird coop. Plant fruit trees. Research dairy goats. Become deliriously excited with the promise–that faint smudge in the sky that grows ever more distinct–of all that is to come.