In the past few weeks, I’ve taken a dive into the world of audio editing as I prepare to launch the In the Weeds podcast.  It’s been a steep learning curve and, in the process, I’ve rather neglected the blog. 

My apologies. 

I’ve decided, while I focus my energies on this new task, to post some shorter, impromptu – i.e., less-researched – pieces.

Here in the Northeast, we are finally enjoying spring – it is customary, this time of year, to comment on all the vicissitudes in the weather and point to signs that the world has, indeed, come alive again.

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king;
Then bloooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!                   -Thomas Nashe

One of the ways I celebrate spring is by touring my garden at the inch-high level, scouring the ground for signs of growing things. 

In the past few days, I have discovered that the bloodroot is getting ready to bloom, the leaves of the Virginia bluebells have emerged, and someone has eaten the entire chokecherry tree – small but still! – that I planted in the fall.

Though it is tempting to start the spring clean up now that the days are getting warmer, the pollinators that hibernate in the dead stalks and leaf litter are not quite ready to emerge (although, if you’re impatient, this article offers a couple of alternatives.) 

As I wait, I’ve also been poking around my leaf letter, pretending to be an entomologist. My daughter and I even broke out the microscope – we discovered some startling, camouflaged creatures living among the leaves. Does anyone know what this is?