are we there yet?

March can feel a little bit like the final stretch of a long family road trip.  The novelty of winter has long warn off and the snow boots that were just a little snug at the beginning of the season, that we hoped we'd get just one more winter out of, are now two full sizes too small.  Spring, or signs of spring, become a long awaited destination and so we ask ourselves, each day, are we there yet? 

As I shoveled our paths one more time today and I looked around at the feet of snow still blanketing the earth, as I checked on the frozen drops of sap held in time at the end of the taps, I have to answer, no we are not there yet.  March is an amazing time of year, really.  The month starts off fully in winter and ends in a bow, introducing a long awaited spring. 

As we transition between winter and spring, I find myself both holding on to the joys of winter: shoveling meandering paths, warming by the woodstove, vowing to get out for one last snow shoe, and inticing spring: filling the house with flowers, taking a pick mattock to our icy paths to invite the mud, and ordering just one more packet of seeds. 

                                           

Just as I repeatidly tell my children on that final stretch, I now gently remind myself: soon, we will be there very soon.  Relax and enjoy the ride.