Anticipation

This is the season for it, isn't it? We wait for gift giving, hoping the response is what we felt when we found that perfect gift. We await the return of the longer days. On dim, grey days we seek the sun through a crack in the clouds. And on sunny days we hope for a clear starry night. For me the buds in the garden are portents of the spring to come. This camellia had to have a hard pruning last winter and the buds were far fewer or I would have left it til after its bloom. This winter the buds are thick and despite the frost the way looks well-paved for a glorious primaveral abundance.

There is still much to do, a lot of mulching and fertilizing in the spring, but the augury awaits the warmth of spring rains to fulfill its promise. Can you feel it? The anticipation of the season?