Imbolc is a festival of fire and light. It falls midway between winter solstice and spring equinox, and marks the successful passing of winter and the beginning of agricultural spring.
The light continues to grow stronger and the days grow warmer.
And this morning I could feel a lightness in the air, a moist warmth with the promise of Spring. A loud, rhythmic drumming caught my attention and I knew woodpeckers were beginning their mating ritual. Chickadees usual "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" was interspersed with "fee-bee" a sign that their mating rituals had begun as well.
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Are these mouse trails in the snow? Mouse highways? |
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| First bloom on my African violet. My mother always kept African violets on a table under an east facing window in our dining room. "Oh, my African violets are waking up! Spring must be on its way!" Her smile of pure joy gave me an appreciation of the changing seasons, of looking for hope in the middle of a deep, dark winter. Yes, mounds of snow still covered the ground, cold and icy winds still tore at our clothes as we walked to school in the mornings, but with a bit more sunlight every day, we knew the worst was behind us. |
9 comments:
Sweet pink first bloom. Nice reminder that winter doesn't last forever.
sweet memories. I love African Violets and I am certainly ready for Spring although it's been quite mild here.
Hi Wendy
My Mother kept African Violets. She loved them.
Her collection grew as the years rolled by.
Yes indeed I can almost feel Spring although we had a light dusting of snow this morning. Ever the optimist.
Beautiful pictures. So far this winter we've had snow and an ice storm, quite unusual in southeast Texas. I look forward to spring blooms and weather, though that means summer (ugh) is right behind her.
What a wonderful post, I love the quickening at this time of the year when life unfurls and creeps from the ground. I don't see a follow button that will allow me to receive email notifications of posts....never mind, I just pop over and catch up.xxx
Thank you so much for your dear comments. ((HUGS)) This week's snowflakes are the first we've seen this winter in the Willamette Valley. (sigh) I LOVE snow.
Have a beautiful day, sweet Wendy. Hugs and comfort to you. <3
I like the idea of mouse highways!
It seems like everyone's mother kept African Violets, and my mother was no exception. She had every colour possible and double, single petals. She even had buttonhole bouquet made up of the blossoms when I got married. Not much spring here at the moment, today was high winds and horizontal snowflakes. Brrrr....
Dear Wendy - Embolic would be equivalent of our “Setsubun”, February 2 or 3 depending on the year. The next day is the beginning of spring, though it is the mid-winter in fact. In the Lunar New Year, Setsubun was thought of New Year’s Eve. Your African Violet is so lovely. About thirty years ago, I had some pots of them colored pink, lavender, or purple but I was forgetting about it these years.
Yoko
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