Mar. 31 This morning the sun is shining and it feels like a true spring morning. Our meadow is filled with pink sunshine and the branches of the pine trees are red with expectation of new life. Suddenly there are birds. Through the winter there have been chickadees, crows and the pair of ravens who…

Mar. 26 How the chestnut branches curl up like fingers! The buds are getting fat.       Snow drops, our single white crocus that comes up by the maple tree each year. A neighbour has lovely egg-yolk yellow crocuses.     The squill are usually later than the crocuses, and also twice as tall as these…

 Mar. 23 We arrived in Toronto just in time for the blue skies and sunshine. Birds are singing everywhere. The 427 and Dundas Street are roaring. Not as bothersome as expected; rather it is like the roar of the city’s blood in its veins. This is, after all, my home. I grew up here.    …

 Mar. 20    Fig.(Who else?) I walked to the west ridge stream this morning with Fig. We were able to walk on top of the snow; it was frozen enough to hold us. As soon as we reached the brook Fig was down the snowbank and into it drinking his fill of the pure mountain…

 Mar. 17 This morning it was thawing once again. Although it was still only minus five the sun was hot and the snow was sliding off the roof in a big curl. Just after I took this picture the snow wave came crashing down.         Fig went out for a lengthy explore…

 Mar. 11 What a grey and snow-blown winter we have had! A week ago snow devils were blowing across the meadow like the spirit of Tash through the Narnian forest, sentient, and purposeful.     “In the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearing something was moving. It was gliding very slowly…

Mar. 9 Each small voice adds to the murmur of the river:    It is almost a year since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 epidemic a Pandemic. I want to revisit some thoughts from June and September, 2020. We have had our eyes open for almost a year now and so many things…

Mar. 4 This sign was posted at the medical clinic that I go to, on March 4 last year. Looking back at February 2020, I can’t remember what I was thinking then about the new virus. I was busy with grandchildren and my ailing mother-in-law. But on the 4th of March I saw that a…

 Mar. 1  Last night, the moon just past full. We will be calling this the first thaw. Water has been dripping all night: tonight it is going down to minus 17. Outside, the morning smells like Japan. (We arrived in Japan on March 4, 1983, the first day of our trip.) March 1st.: is today…