Spring Fever

The cold dark days of winter are finally receding with time inching forth and the days getting longer. Cold winter days make my nesting instincts kick into high gear. There is just something warm and fuzzy about being wrapped up in the warmth of your home with all the things you need to keep you comfortable. Just like animals getting ready for the winter, I have this urge stock up on all the creature comforts that make life tolerable.

For me, the first thing I need is something to write with and something to write in. Although most of my writing is done on the laptop, I still have to have a journal to jot down notes, ideas and feelings. I am partial to the half size notebooks with the cloth covering over the spiral edges. I probably have hundreds of these that I have filled with all my thoughts; occasionally I will re-read a journal to pick out patterns in my life. Of course, I also like nice pretty journals and I have many of them that I use for special projects. I have one that is especially for song lyrics, I have one for my poems and another for quotations. I also like to pick out special journals to take with me on trips. I usually have at least three or four working journals going at one time—feelings and thoughts, gardening and crafts, and story ideas. I keep a journal in my car in case I get caught in traffic, I keep one on my desk at home in case ideas come to me in the middle of the day and I keep one near my bed for dreams and other mystical thoughts.

After I have something to write on, then I need something to write with. I love to write with blue ink; I think that is because I have to write in black at work all the time. All the ink pens I use at home are blue, Pilot Easy Touch; these write smoothly and don’t bleed ink onto the paper or clog up the tip. My handwriting is large and I hate it when the ink pen leaves a big glob of ink right in the middle of a word. I also have some special pens that I use when the mood hits me. One of my favorites is a wooden pen that is carved like a fox head; it is refillable and I like to use it when I’m in a good mood. I will usually find a new pen to take on a special trip, like the lighted pens you see at the checkout stand in Wal-Mart—Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Cinderella. Special pens are good for perking up my mood, but when it comes down to serious writing, I’ll choose my Easy Touch every time.

The next thing you need to be a good nester is snacks—all the favorite foods of each family member. For me, it has to be Twisters because I’m a salty-carbohydrate kind of girl, but Keith likes his Runts from the Kountry Kupboard, and Christine’s weakness is Doritos. These are occasional snacks for us, but I get that warm fuzzy feeling when we are stocked up with all our favorites. It’s good to have nice healthy food to sustain you, but a special treat every now and then is okay too.

Spring is finally in the air. I realize we still have some cold days to look forward to, but the signs of spring are everywhere. Gardening plans are already stewing in my head and I can’t wait to finally be able to get outside and dig in the dirt. On my daily walk through my gardens recently, I was really tempted to start cleaning out flower beds and tidying everything up, but I stopped myself. Right now the birds are using flower heads and shrubbery to live. I see so many Robins, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Finches still finding seeds to eat and a place for protection. Normally I don’t start trimming up the flowerbeds until about St. Patrick’s’ Day—that is when my Granddaddy Sallee would plant his potatoes and prepare the lettuce beds. This is about the same time my Granny Sallee would plant her sweet peas and start raking out her flowerbeds, especially her peonies.

I also have daffodils and tulips coming up and several trees starting to bud-out. I am always glad to see the first flower in spring, but I would rather delay my joy instead of having everything blooming and then get a big frost. With Kentucky weather, one day we may have 60 degree temperatures, the next day it may never reach 30 degrees.

So, as the gardening and seed catalogs start to accumulate in the mail, I will spend the next few months deciding on what new plants I will try this year. As soon as the soil is workable, I’ll be out getting the veggie garden ready for lettuce and other salad greens plus peas and a few potatoes. Even though I have spring fever, I will still have to wait on Mother Nature to tell me when spring has finally arrived. Until then, I’ll keep busy reading and learning and dreaming of my future gardens.

© Bobbi Rightmyer, April 2005