During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have already lost so much. We are scared. We are worried for our loved ones and ourselves. We are financially stressed. We are told to stay home as much as possible. Home… where there’s perhaps disconcertingly little TP and no Clorox Wipes. And we don’t know how long we can “hunker down” before everything comes unhinged.
And yet it’s Spring– beautiful, over-the top Spring where everything’s a Technicolor dream and we get to swap sweaters and shoes for flip flops and tees… while your dogs chase neighborhood squirrels and birds chirp and flap about obliviously.
Sure, you wanted to start gardening this month, because gardening in Spring is easy like Sunday mornings. It’s an impulse no one needs to resist. But you find yourself instead starting your Victory Garden 2.0.
You’re planting potatoes, tomatoes, chard and beans. And that’s great; that’s smart. Just don’t forget that roses are about to bloom. Hell, everything’s about to bloom. And it’s so damn pretty. Don’t miss it.
Spring only comes once a year, so don’t miss the beauty during all this terror. Smell the sweet scent of orange blossoms. Watch butterflies and moths and lady beetles land on your open flowers.
Refill your hummingbird feeder and birdbath. Thin your fruit-filled apricot tree. If you are working from home, give yourself breaks where you go out back and and putter in the garden for a bit.
Get some sun (AKA Vitamin D). Moisturize your over-washed hands and remember to breathe. This too shall pass, and we are all in this strangest Spring ever… together.
