The sky is overcast. A snow rain mixture is descending from the sky. Spring is a dirty season. It is not raining hard enough to wash the streets or remove the built-up sand from the sidewalks. We are at that in between season where winter is hanging on and the temperatures are not warm enough to shed jackets. As I look out the kitchen window snow and ice still buries some of my Christmas lights and cords. Winter is hanging on.
Everything looks a little worse for wear. The heavy snows have bent the branches of some shrubbery in the yard. The lawn is well fertilized with the droppings of the deer who nightly find their way into my yard hoping to find tidbits of food. The cedar hedge is sucking up the rain and the netting has protected it from the deer through the winter. Day lilies are poking their growth through the snow and the deer now are attacking those fresh green shoots.
The lawn is patchy brown and green shoots are starting. Unraked fall leaves have collected in the areas not swept by winds through fall and winter. Buds are just starting to expand on the birch trees in the yard and the lilacs and flowering crab trees are just beginning to thaw from freezing winter temperatures. I find this in between season both sad and hopeful. Not the tidy kind of hope you find in Hallmark cards, but the kind that’s earned — the kind that says, yes, things are messy, but look closer. See the shoots poking through the dirt? The first robin on the fencepost? The way the days stretch a little longer, almost unnoticed?
I look out the back door and my raised garden beds are warming and in a few short weeks, they will be planted with beans, kale, lettuce, radish, and carrots looking for fresh salad makings by the end of June. The pots under the gardens will be filled with herbs and through the summer we will enjoy the bounty of fresh produce. That is the hope and excitement coming.
In just under two weeks, the merchants of Emo will be hosting “Spring Fever Days.” The two-day celebration is recognized as the start of spring and summer by the district. It is fun filled two days in Emo and the merchants plan for this weekend from the first of the year. On the same weekend, The Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce will be hosting spring weekend at the curling club with businesses and organizations showing off their products and services. It is an annual affair.
Even through the rain, this Easter weekend brings hope and excitement to the district as we prepare for spring and summer.
