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Monday
Mar282016

Celebrate

We were looking at photos a few days ago and Jon commented to me that we have "more pictures of that kid in pajamas than anything else." So it is not at all surprising to that while all our friends and acquaintances flooding Facebook with lovely pictures of their families from the weekend in new spring dress clothes, our kid was decorating eggs in . . . can you guess? His pajamas. With bed head to boot. Evidence that we are comfortable and joyous dissidents.

The first day of spring, better known as the spring equinox, was fully a week ago, but mother nature could not have provided a more beautiful sign of the lengthening days than we were graced with yesterday. Brilliant sun and warming temperatures brightened our crafting, decorating, and cooking as we prepared to celebrate with family. Weekends like this are a vital part of recovering from winter. They are the promise that entices us all from quasi-hibernation. I swear I have seen more neighbors in the past week than through all the past three months combined. 

And while much of the nation is also celebrating the end of a marked period of waiting, our own season of patience is just getting started—the bird migration is upon us. Our local friends, the ones that don't abandon us for warmer climes but still disappear mostly from hearing for the darkest months of the year, are starting to rejoin us in a tentative morning symphony. It will swell over the next few months as they become increasingly urgent in their communications, and as they are joined by summer-weathered friends. And the visitors that pass through for the briefest of moments will be on their way in just a few weeks. We actually saw our first Sandhill Cranes on February 28, sparking an impatience for early morning bird hikes.

But today was still a pajama day. A craft rabbits, decorate eggs, and eat chocolates day. A ring in spring with friends and family day.















 

Friday
Mar252016

CY365 in 2016, week 12

March 18: Silly
Calvin

Cortney

March 19: Vast
Calvin

Cortney

March 20: Shutter speed
Calvin

Cortney

March 21: Healthy
Calvin

Cortney

March 22: Night Lights
Calvin

March 23: Your muse
Calvin

Cortney

March 24: Suspended
Calvin

Cortney 
 

Sunday
Mar202016

Spring poems, by Calvin

The sun comes out, 
Its heat penetrates the snow
To the grassy layer below,
The clouds grow thin,
A blue sky beind,
Spring has sprung anew.
 

The springing spring is bouncing in,
With birds and foxes alike,
It fills the winter white with warm,
And melts the snow to slush,
And takes its place where spring should go,
With flowers and grasses alike.
 

Spring wakes up,
Pushes aside its bedcovers,
Rambling out of bed,
Into its dayclothes it goes oncemore,
Never to sleep for three months,
Goodbye winter, hello spring! 
 

Friday
Mar182016

The green holiday

The year can really be measured in holidays that aren't holidays: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo. Actually, maybe it's a function of our desire to finally get out and see people as the weather warms that leads to our obsession with celebrations in the springtime months. On the face, these are great jumping off points for homeschoolers: what really is Valentine's Day? Who are the Irish? What does it mean to be Mexican (as opposed to Spanish)?

 For the rest of us these are just great excuses to enjoy different foods . . . and drinks. 

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with shamrock eggs in the morning, Irish boiled dinner soup in the evening, and the baking of Irish soda bread in the middle of the day. Plus the drinks. But when Jon and I went out for bear it wasn't for Killians or Guinness, it was to the Jolly Pumpkin Tasting room for some fantastic local brews instead.








Friday
Mar182016

CY365 in 2016, week 11

March 11: Where I stand
Calvin

Cortney

March 12: Familiar
Calvin

Cortney

March 13: Emerald
Calvin

Cortney

March 14: In a Field of Green
Calvin

Cortney

March 15: From above
Calvin

Cortney

March 16: Contrast
Calvin

Cortney

March 17: A shamrock
Cortney