The unseasonably warm weather we have experienced here in the Litchfield Hills over the last few days has really given a kick start to Spring. Many of the bulbs, ephemeral wildflowers and trees are leafing out and bursting into bloom at least 10 days ahead of where they were last year at this time. Temperatures are now more in line, with chilly nights and days in the low 60s, but already one's thoughts turn to spaded earth and seedlings in soil thta may yet experience a hard frost before it is safe for summer garden glories like tomatoes and basil that I await with great pleasure.
I can smell the smoke of someone burning brush through my open office window. These early Spring days are precisely the wrong time to spark up a burn pile, with tinder dry lands and strong winds ready to carry embers and fan the flames. It is a good time, however to burn invasive barberry, which has just expended its energy reserves in a first flush of green and will have a hard time bouncing back from a good scorching.
Tomorrow is Mayday and this weekend is therefore the one time of the year when the women of Bryn Mawr College revel in white. I have fond memories of maypoles on the green, strawberries and cream for breakfast and frolics on the grass from my years at Haverford and as a "Bryn Man".
"Pray dainty nymphs, and spake / Shall we play barley break? fa la la la la..."
Who wouldn't trade their work-a-day attire for straw hats and morris bells at such a time? It's good to be the goat-footed balloon man...
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