Back In The Dirt

Gardening, Cassette Tapes, & Ritual Magic

I want more buttons and switches than touch screens in my life.

The last few days have been heavenly here at Cold Antler Farm. Sunshine, green buds on the maples, and the path through the woods is bursting with ground cover. My morning walks are now sandals over ferns and moss, punctuated by trout lilies and trillium and maybe, maybe if I’m really lucky… morels.

The daffodils and forsythia are rioting. The wild onions are exploding, along with the nettles and burdock. If I wanted to I could fry up an onion and nettle omelet with burdock root coffee, but I do not want to because I raise bacon and have Folgers on hand.

But it’s nice to have options.

There’s less roaring from the creek now that the rains have slowed down and it’s become a background bubble I adore. Last night I fell asleep with my bedroom windows open, and that creek a dozen yards outside my window is better than any white noise machine*

I think the frost warnings are behind us now and I can stop collecting firewood from dead downed trees in the forest for the last gasps of evening fires. This is the time of year fires aren’t really needed, but I’ve grown accustomed to their comfort and crackle after dark. One of my favorite luxuries is having a fire going and all the windows open. I roast marshmallows and make s'mores, I watch a favorite movie, My living room becomes the coziest pop-culture basecamp in the world. WITH SNACKS.

What more could a woman dare ask for?

Beltane is a few days away. Soon I’ll be with the rest of my co-religionists basking in bonfire light, playing music and eating hand pies.

But right now, I’m gardening.