Remember, those of you in my age group, lying on the floor slowly going through the Sears or the JC Penny Christmas catalog? I do. Brightly colored photos of everything under the sun. Hundreds of pages. My brother and I would take strips of paper, blue for him yellow for me, and we'd carefully mark our wish list.. Toys, sporting goods, dresses, shoes, sleds, dolls, it was all in there. Page after page of things we just knew we needed. Telescopes, hats, games, BB guns, everything and anything. It was magical. Hours would be spent moving those strips of paper from page to page as a new item was spotted. And we got one or two of those items, it was a very good year.
Now I'm fifty one and those days are long gone. I'm not sure if Sears even puts out a color catalog anymore. As with phone books, they don't seem like anything more than a waste of perfectly good trees. I know Toys R Us does and I did read somewhere that JC Penny will put one out this year. It won't be the same. Not just because of nostalgia but also because I've replaced it. Those glowing eyes, I used to look through every single page of those catalogs with, now have readers to look through every single page of my new obsession... The Seed Catalogs.
Sitting inside looking out at a wall of snow I thumb my way through my seed catalog. No colored strip of construction paper, we live in a Post-it world. And every other page flies a paper flag, a reminder that this page held something I just know I need. New Lavender for the back, coleus seed of all types for the little red wagon, something hardy for around the mailbox. Nothing every grows there but maybe this is my year? I'm sure with the right plant my flowers will stop cars and people will "ooh" and "aahh".
If it weren't for those pesky rabbits I could put in ornamental cabbage. But why stock a salad bar for those creatures? they already take out our sunflowers every year.
Did you know you can get twelve varieties of coneflower to grow in our zone? I do!
I'm not rushing Spring but I know it's coming soon. My Mourning Doves are back on the line out back, the air smells like Spring and the sky is blue-er. A friendly blue, not that cold grey blue of Winter. I can see it on the horizon and I'm ready to head out with shovel, rake and soil. I am ready to pull out the lawn toys and set them in place. I can feel the dirt under my nails and the smell of life as I plant and gather.
I know I've got a little time. It's going to take more than a few sunny days to melt all this snow. It's still up to my waist in spots. But, until then I've got my Post-its and my catalog. I can wait. I still have so many pages to see and so many ideas to get. So in a few months if you're in our end of the State, swing by my place and take a look at my flowers. I promise it will be worth it.
Tia, for the first time in months I can see little patches of lawn emerging from under the snow. The icy waterfalls are slowly starting to melt and thin streams of water are trickling down. Soon the crocuses will be blooming and the first robins will arrive in my backyard. It's been a long, cold winter but I've practically forgotten it already. Soon the memory of it will be completely gone along with the snow.
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