Easing back in

I've been away from my blog so long that I feel like a stranger.  And the truth is that I've been away from my garden far too long as well.  The absolutely necessary chores have been attended to.  The birds are fed, the mulch and compost have been spread, the irises transplanted. The summer weeds were pulled (though the winter ones are now taking over).  But my emotional energy was spent in other places this last year.  Not only did I fail to write about the garden, I took fewer pictures.  It feels as though I missed both summer and fall.  My heart was elsewhere.
Blogging is like so many other things - the longer you neglect it, the harder it is to remember why you were doing it in the first place.
But I DO remember - I remember that all I wanted from this blog was a convenient way to keep a garden diary.  And I remember that it became so much more than that - it became a link to a supportive network from all over the world, thanks largely to Blotanical.  A link to inspiration, information, entertainment, encouragement and so much more.  That network is still out there, of course, but I've removed myself from it.  When I don't post, I don't read much either.  I've missed it.
So - I'm easing back in.  This week I carried my camera with me when I took Marty for his morning walk.

Around this corner

there are great mounds of forsythia that have already begun to bloom.

And just next door this early blooming tree (an Eastern redbud?)  

has already shed many of it's fragrant blossoms.

The early morning light brightens my spirits after several gray and dreary days.

As do the crocuses and the hyacinths 

peaking up from beneath the leaves.

It is still winter, but my spirits are lifted thinking about what's to come.

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."

- Barbara Winkler