It’s that time of year again, the bleak and chilly closing weeks of winter taking their darn time to get it done already! It’s easy to feel downtrodden amidst the dripping cold, the slick and rotting leaves underfoot, the odd bits of trash that emerge from melting snow. But. . .there are also signs of spring!
Like that one lonely crocus blooming in the front bed?
And all the greenery pushing through from more flowering bulbs! Sometimes there’s even a pretty sunrise that isn’t totally and completely clouded over:
Signs of spring: sunrise visible within the clouds!
And there’s Easter candy at the grocery store.
That’s definitely a sign of spring, 9. Visual cues of the changing season abound, and with the spring comes seasonal events, too. The obvious one is gardening. On March 15 I’ll start the 8-week seedlings- -peppers and eggplants. By May 10, our local average last frost date, I anticipate I’ll have a whole herd of thriving seedlings, and lots of direct plant seeds will be in the ground, too.
I also anticipate community-oriented springtime events. A sure sign of spring came yesterday when I was recruited for the Kirkman House Museum Spring Tea and Fashion show on April 28. I could end up modeling a fabulous vintage fashion that dates anywhere from the Victorian era forward:
Signs of spring: Kirkman House Tea and Fashion Show!
I love that dress!
I do, too, 9, but I don’t think they do repeats. The Tea and Fashion Show is a major fundraiser for the museum and it’s a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Another sign of spring: SoupPort! This, too, is a fundraiser. It happens on April 10. Admission is $30 ($35 at the door). The event benefits SonBridge Center for Better Living. Participants view tables and tables of hand-decorated soup bowls, no two alike, created at a ceramics studio sponsored by the City of Walla Walla. Each person selects a bowl of their liking and proceeds to the serving area for (you guessed it!) a bowl of soup. Your soup bowl of choice goes home with you.
Signs of Spring: SoupPort bowl from 2023.
April is also the start of the Living History season at Fort Walla Walla Museum. The complete schedule will soon be available here: https://www.fwwm.org/living-history
Are we performing this season?
You bet we are, Lily! Starting with Matilda Sager Delaney, Whitman Massacre Survivor, on May 19th. I’ll begin review of her script in mid-April, and I’ll be working on a new script for Sister Catherine of the Sisters of Providence (debuts September 15).
Plus, I’ve been accepted for EV 140 Writing for Wineries at Walla Walla Community College! The first session is March 26, one week after spring begins.
Wow, that’s a lot of things to do!
Yes, and those are just elective activities. My spring work goal is getting book five of the Big-G series out to beta readers for comments and submitting the manuscript to my publisher by June. And there’s ongoing health and wellness work, and housework and very soon there will be mowing to do a couple of times a week.
Don’t forget the Banned Book list.
Right you are, Lily. Our current selection is Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. The list is sorted alphabetically by author surname so we’ve already made it through the As and the Bs.
Signs of Spring: several titles into the Banned Book challenge!
Hmmm, this is turning into quite a list! And I think I see an opportunity to enjoy what’s left of winter- -I’ll sleep until spring to make sure I’m well-rested for all the amazing things to come.
Congratulations on the course acceptance!
Thank you, Margo!