Spring Waning Seed Moon
We are far enough into spring that its first full moon, the Seed Moon, has begun to wane. The snow is gone and even though the land here is dry bulbs have begun to break the earth with the tips of their small green spears. The daylilies, those hardy, reproductively agile flowers are already up six inches or so (hmmm, time for the cygon on the irises).
I pulled up stakes but we’re not moving. Nope, each year these stakes get taken up when the last snows of the season, at least any that will last, are behind us. They are three feet high, sharpened on end and painted a fluorescent orange on the other. Put in the ground after Halloween (for obvious, trick related reasons) they guide snow-plowing crews away from the edges of our yard. This preserves lawn and sprinkler heads. Out in Rocky Mountain National Park their equivalent is a seven foot or so sapling lashed to mile marker or outside lane marker.
We have our peculiar seasonal rituals. Next comes the removal of the snow blower to the machine shed and the draining of its gasoline tank. In its place comes the riding mower, ready for another season of grass beheading. Somewhere in here the cold weather plants get started outside, tomato plants inside. Windows get washed and gutters cleaned. We like to give ourselves a fresh face for nature’s season of abundance. We will put the spiritual asceticism of winter behind us, ready now to revel in green, fresh fruits and vegetables, warm breezes.