Have you ever been to Yellowstone and seen Old Faithful? Do you know how this process works? As soon as the geyser blows, it starts to fill up again. Then the water starts to heat up again until about 90 minutes later there is too much pressure and it blows. It is not totally predictable, but it happens about the same time, every time. But for over an hour, it seems like nothing is happening, meanwhile everything is getting ready for the main event.
When your whole life revolves around gardening or the seasons then this is probably second nature. We have already made the shift to daylight savings time again. The photo below was taken around the first of March following the previous weekend that was in the 60s and sunny all week. Many trees and bushes are starting their bud around here yet I wont argue that March has been more like winter than February was.
My point is, spring is coming, I just can’t see it yet. Even more important than that, we can’t get complacent that just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it is not around the corner. There is a very short window between too early and too late and it is this time that is critical for being prepared for that window.
I get trapped in this loop of I have to be done by six or eight weeks before last frost date. For me, that is late April. But, I also want to wrap up the winter work before that time. On years where I have really focused on the garden, most things ceased at that point. This was to the point that projects that only had a couple of hours left languished until the fall. Other years I did not finish my winter projects by June.
The trick is knowing when exactly to transition. But what is worse is convincing yourself that there is plenty of time (in either direction). We all have priorities and decisions to make. And so, I am not second guessing my choices but simply bringing awareness to myself and others that letting off the gas now is too early.
I love the quote by Earnest Hemmingway about bankruptcy, “Slowly than rapidly”. Children are born then they graduate. I graduate from school and now I am middle age. We have freedom until we don’t. It is all the things we do in the slow time that makes a difference.
When I watch This Old House, I have come to understand that footings need to be over four feet deep in the building as best practice in New England. This is the because the ground in that area can freeze down to four feet and as the ground freezes and thaws, that ground moves. That movement is described as heave. Heave moves the building up and down as well as breaks concrete foundations and slabs. We don’t build to that degree of detail here, that is a whole different story. My point is spending time on the details that aren’t seen are critical for the parts that are seen.
End Your Programming Routine: Just like Hemmingway said, spring is coming slowly than rapidly. And just like Old Faithful, it is going to explode in roughly 90 minutes. So those freak winter breaks of nice weather lull us into the pseudo belief that spring is here followed by a just as long winter reminder convincing us it will never come. Just keep going with your pace and trust that it will happen.
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