discoveries

I can’t help but notice the budding pussy willows everywhere around our house this time of year. And it reminds me of last Spring, when I was thinking of buying a bundle of them (for quite a pretty penny) from an upscale market while I was down in the Cities. Mum said to me at the time, “look around and I’ll bet you’ll see some up in your neck of the woods growing right before your eyes.”
And see some I definitely did. Not a day or two after this conversation, Hub was looking out the little windows above our kitchen sink (fully aware of my desire for pussy willows) when he noticed tiny white puffs of cottony-goodness speckling a whole bunch of trees just outside these windows.
I remember my astonishment at this discovery and immediately spurred Hub into action, shoeing him out the door with me. There was still a good foot of snow covering the ground. I held the ladder stable as he climbed upon it and cut clippings of pussy willow branches, handing them down to me. I remember thinking our new neighbors would surely wonder about us…who are these strange former city folk, climbing on ladders in the snow?

Of course we performed this same "ladder-climbing-in-the-snow" ritual again this Spring, just a couple weeks ago, so I could fill up a vase and set it upon the mantle. We laugh now when we think about the bounty of them growing right on our property, every which way we look.

I remember my astonishment at many other discoveries in our new home last Spring too…our first Spring here. That time was sort of like discovering a new little world for us. Each day brought us new delights as different things would appear, sprouting and unearthing themselves. One of my favorite discoveries is still to come. But now that I know it is there, I’ve already begun looking for it, anticipating its special appearance. I’ll let you know once it arrives. Don’t get too excited though... It seems it’s always the small things that excite me most.