Blizzard After Equinox

The equinox signals a time of balance between light and dark. So now the days are lengthening and we are moving through spring and toward summer. Yet today we have a blizzard.

When I lived in Atlanta, the progress of the seasons I grew accustomed to was different. We had plant seeds in the ground by spring equinox and green shoots were up by May, and we even had the first flowers of the season by Groundhog Day. Then as the days got hotter, the flowers continued to unfurl all spring, all the wonderful healing and culinary herbs bounced back to life, and the vegetables continued their steady progress toward fullness and ripeness, or as folks would say "good eatin' size."

Out here in Colorado, they say not to plant before Mother's Day, and today is a perfect example of why, although when I first moved out here, I thought they were pulling my leg when they told me to wait that long.

This blizzard has brought me a day of rest, and if it snows more this evening, I will stay home again tomorrow. That would be a benefit of the blizzard.

Once we have made it through the last off the storms then the challenge will be to keep the plants watered, because the constant sun will fry them if you forget to water for a couple days. That is the relentless task of the gardener out here.

But for today, I will enjoy a quiet day at home, every once in a while looking at the blanket of snow out there and be glad that I don't have to drive in it. Nature is balancing me today by giving me a rest after weeks of nonstop work. Yes, the equinox is bringing balance back in.