Springing ahead to spring

Last weekend saw us springing ahead with the clock, shifting to Daylight Saving Time. This weekend, with the weather warming up so nicely, has seen me springing ahead with some of the clean-up chores out in the yard. 

My big project for the year is always my blackberry patch. Knowing what I do about how many trees and vines won't be bearing fruit this summer has made it seem all the more important to look after my little berry patch. 

Although some of the berries I leave on it may serve as a food source for birds in the winter, mostly what lingers can only be deemed a mess. 

Every spring those tangled branches leaning on the fence get a severe haircut--at least that's how I like to think of it--getting prettied up for the season. 

And even as I chop at the dead and stringy branches, I can't help but think of the other aspects of spring cleaning this project always brings to mind. Tossing any item in the fridge (usually a condiment) that hasn't been used, and moving along clothes or books I no longer need (an ongoing, year-round quest). 

Pruning also always reminds me of the editing process: cutting out the dead wood (or words that don't need to be there), and then trying to shape the plant (or the essay or poem) into a shape where it will be most productive and effective. 

The bin full of branches still needs to go into the container the recycling truck will pick up this week, a service I am always grateful for--at least as grateful as I will be for the bounty of daily berries in summer. 

Snow in May?

While those may look a bit like flakes of snow, that's not what they are -- and am I ever glad! Parts of Ontario and even places in BC are still getting the occasional dusting, but fortunately, not us.

It's a chunk of lichen, knocked down from the roof -- the result of one of those nearly-annual jobs of ongoing maintenance that go along with being lucky enough to have a home. Plenty of moss came down too, as well as an awful lot of spruce needles.

When I started to look up information about lichen, I had no idea what I'd be getting myself into. It turns out that are so many different kinds, and that they serve so many different purposes, well, it was a lesson that could have led me to needing to go to grad school for a PhD.

But I guess that's one of the things I love most about being able to explore the internet -- and like everyone else, that's about the most exploring any of us get to do these days.

Once upon a time, it was called armchair travel, only as I poke around for a definition of that term, I find that armchair travelling looks more popular than ever. If nothing else, the price is right, and no passport or currency exchange required.

The things that happen when a person decides to do a bit of home maintenance. Like Dr Seuss said, "Oh, the places you'll go!"