It’s still raining, and looks to continue indefinitely.  It’s like a saturated sponge out there, with nowhere else for water to go.  Masses of birds and flowers are in their element, like a rainforest aviary.  Elsewhere in the area, there is massive flooding.  Up here on our soggy hill, it looks and feels like April used to, only more so.  Soon it will be one big birdbath.

Indoors, I’m about to order my veg seeds, and get set up for germinating transplants.  I think I was a little too ambitious last year, spreading my efforts too thin, with mediocre results.  This year I’ll simplify and focus on improving growing conditions for select plants with more chance of success. I anticipate drifts of naturalized perennial flowers returning with a vengeance, without any work on my part.  In the meantime, enjoy these unnatural forced tulips.

I think this will be the season the weedy field starts to turn the corner into more of a wildflower prairie with baby trees scattered throughout.  (With a lot of help from me, of course.)  I also hope to install a small pond out there, to attract more wildlife.  One day there will be frogs, if it kills me!

This has been a strange winter of record-setting extremes and unseasonal changes.  Never mind the backdrop of frightening historic politics.  It’s all a person can do to stay positive and hopeful.  In my case, plants and animals are my therapy.  I envy Misu, who just finds a higher perch in the closet and hunkers down.  Just look at her quizzical expression: “Settle down, human!”

I love watching more and more diverse species of birds and animals making themselves at home right outside my window.  Misu does, too, for different reasons!  I visualize a grove of native trees and plants surrounding us, providing food and shelter for native wildlife once again, as it should be.  It’s just a minute drop in the bucket, which I won’t live to see, but every tiny bit helps return our planet to the sustainable natural balance it depends upon to survive.