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| Eastern Redbud |
"And if I belonged
in this place it was because I belonged
to it. And I began to understand that so long as I did not know this place fully, or even adequately, I belonged to this place only partially. That summer, I began to see, however dimly, that one of my ambitions, perhaps my
governing ambition, was to belong fully to this place, to belong as the
thrushes and the herons and the muskrats belonged, to be altogether at
home here. That is still my ambition. I have made myself entirely willing to be governed by it. But I have now come to see that it proposes an enormous labor. It is a spiritual ambition, like goodness. The wild
creatures belong to the place by nature, but as a man I can belong to it
only by understanding and by virtue. It is an ambition I cannot hope to succeed in wholly, but I have come to believe it is the most worthy of all."
Kentucky author Wendell Berry,
The Long-Legged House, page 169.
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| bloodroot |
From The National Weather Service today: " By the weekend...we will see temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below
normal...which equates to a hard freeze. Freezing temperatures are
expected each morning S
aturday, Sunday,
and Monday...and Sunday morning we are looking at lows in the teens in
the mountains and 20s elsewhere! That is really cold for April!!!
And...there will even be snow showers in the mountains..."
Its hard to speak for the fauna but the farm's flora are certainly confused about timing their flowers and leaves because of the wild swings in the temperatures here. Monday the high was 70F, sixteen hours later, the sunrise temperature was 28F. This morning it was dead still and 29F, which killed the just opened leaves of some trees. The peonies have rocketed up from the ground in the last few days and are certainly very tender. If the forecast is correct, it will plunge to 24F (-4C) Saturday night. Every bucket and empty flower pot on the farm will be inverted to cover peonies, hydrangea, dicentra, day lilies, rudbeckia, columbine, roses, etc., with hopes of no lasting damage.
The entire winter was a chaotic mix of unusually warm and unusually cold weather, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Nonetheless, there seems to have been relatively little winter damage and some flowering trees, especially the cherries and eastern redbuds, are extraordinary in their floral displays now. There have been winds of sufficient strength to bowl over highway signs but thus far, the flowers and trees have been tenacious enough to retain their glory.
Here are flowers from around the farm, taken this week. Enjoy.
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| Cherry |
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| Lilac about to open |
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| Redbud |
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| Viburnum |
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