Sleep No Longer

Wintering Insects Awake (March 5 -20) always seems like the time of year when everything shakes from its dozing. We have been gradually stirring from our winter slumber since February, our eyes peeping open as we become accustomed to the light, and by mid-March, the world is truly roused (compelled!) to action.

For us humans, it seems impossible to resist the urge to buy seeds, or perhaps to drop by the garden center to see if anything new has been placed out for the season. Yet, the nights remain too freezing to plant seeds. The garden centers are wisely taking their time, and shelves remain bare. Nevertheless, we are compelled to action and to resolutely seek out spring wherever we might find it. And find it we shall!

The sap is running in the maple trees, and the buds are swelling on the branches. Snowdrops, and the hint of golden crocus and tips of the tulips. They’ve made it through to another year — and thank goodness! The lively March winds roar, and on fine days, we observe clouds that tumble and cascade across a hazy sky. Spring showers and storms: the clouds feel close.

The herald of spring thaw began with the drips in Snow Becomes Rain, and that processional continues. Drops from the eaves, drips from the branches, splashes from the cars, and roars of the river. The landscape is wet and sodden, as much soil as it is water. There is a wonderful, sloshy, full-of-life feeling that now refuses to go away, that refuses to harden completely into ice.

And then there are those fleeting warm days. Those days that linger only for one or two afternoons before plunging us back into the cold. On those days, the wintering insects certainly do awake! The air is filled with little silent gnats. Slugs and snails begin to muck around, and some impromptu weeding will certainly reveal a worm or two.

The world will sleep no longer!