With spring arriving, a reflection on winter:

Looking back on this winter, I’m not sure I’d say it was too long. By the end of last fall I welcomed the fire returning to the wood stove, the cozy meals that came together from the garden harvests and freshly stocked larder, and the start of many dark nights spent lingering with a book. We needed the rest. We had worked hard to finish up all the outdoor work in time for the first major snow flurries and I had no problem saying goodbye to it all.

The hardest part of winter, was the care for the animals in the barn. That felt long and never ending sometimes. Seeing to the needs of the dairy cows, sheep, and horse is of high value with our sub zero temperatures, and bitter winds. Making sure water troughs don’t freeze over, supplying bedding for the animals to lay in, and keeping all the Jersey cows free from frostbite and udder malady takes a lot of intention.

I’m proud of my boys. They’re tough and they do a good job running back and forth from the barn at night to do final barn checks. They, along with a wonderful farm hand, experience freezing hands and feet to do what needs to be done to bring in several gallons of milk each morning.

This is surely why we are loving the first tentatively warm spring days we have been experiencing, if not accompanied with gale-force winds that is! For me, it’s when the light starts to come across the kitchen and living room, in tracks where it was absent before. We soak it up, turning our faces toward it and saying thanks for its return.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. Isaiah 9:2

That was wonderful to remember, however, the rain is falling outside, the ground is softening and I’m thinking about planting carrot seed and potatoes.

I can almost smell the lilacs…

“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.” – Proverb