Convergence

(I Know Where the Daffodils are Sleeping -- a favorite from 2009)

After months of ice the spring thaw is suddenly upon us. We only have a little bit of snow left, and heaps and heaps and heaps of mud. Sometimes we have crocuses in the front yard by now. They will be a little bit late this year. I don't even see their shoots yet. They are so tiny and delicate, I worry about how they'll push their way through the matted-up carpet of fallen leaves but they always manage somehow.

The daffodil shoots are almost all peeking through -- they're tougher, they poke up early but they really take their time to bloom -- and I love to see them. I don't winter over well and I crave that little sign of hope. There's this one way I often drive to and from my day job in the software mines, past Chubby Checker's house (!). It's a beautiful, winding, hilly, puddly country road and one of the homes has hundreds of daffodil shoots lining the road, all in a massive row. I am only slightly ashamed to admit that when I drive by them, winter after winter, if I am alone, I quietly cheer them on (grow grow grow grow!) and if nobody is behind me I might even slow way down to get a much better look -- and every year when they finally bloom I am overjoyed. It never gets old for me. I hope the homeowners don't think I am casing the joint. Can you imagine? "No, officer, I'm just here for the daffodils. Which haven't bloomed yet. But they will."

These last few days of this particular winter feel so momentous, as though a great convergence is at hand. There are events and celebrations large and small, piled up together: a long weekend for the schoolkids; Pi(e) day; my dear friend Amanda's birthday; St. Patrick's day. The crocus watch. The daffodil watch. The equinox, finally. It is the same every year but maybe I'm extra-twitterpated this time because I'm in the thick of getting ready for my next release on top of it all: learning the new printer; matting and framing; picking out ribbons to tie around bundles of greeting cards; carving stamps to decorate the mailers I hope to stuff prints into. It is a very happy busy, very hopeful. The greeting cards arrive later this week. I do fret a little bit that they won't turn out quite right. I keep reminding myself that I've ordered so many different prints from exactly the same service before using exactly the same software and so far they always turn out fine in the end.

Even odds the shipment arrives the same time as the crocuses start to emerge... we'll see.

P.S. If you'd like a little sneak peek of the release prep, pop on over to instagram!