Happy first day of spring!

Happy first day of spring! We made it. Of course, it's minus five degrees outside right now and I can still see my breath, but gosh darnit, we made it!

I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks. Yes, winter has its charms and I've developed a whole new respect for the season but lately I've been itching to get out of hibernation.

I've always looked forward to spring in an abstract kind of way, but since moving to the farm, I find we're much more in sync with the seasons on an almost corporeal level. You have to be, out here, especially where there's wood to collect, food and hay to store, generators to prime, sump pumps to pump and seeds to sow. Rural life demands a greater sense of self-sufficiency and this winter I actually felt some primal survival instincts kicking in.

But that's a good thing. I think modern urban living has disconnected North American society from the seasons so much that we've lost our reverence for the power of nature. When it gets cold out, flip a switch and the thermostat kicks in. When snow falls, the city will clean most of it up.

The result is that we feel superior to nature, like we can control or manage it. Then something like the ice storm of 1998 hits and we realize just how powerless we are. I'm not saying we should be scared of nature, just that we should respect it a bit more and understand our place as cohabitant of this planet, not its master.

Anyway, time to get down from my soap box. Who knew daffodils could rouse so much pontificating? Besides, I've got green thumbs that are itching to be outside, not hammering away at the keyboard.

So happy first day of spring, folks. Get out and enjoy it. I can think of no better day to take a break from the busyness of life to just stop and smell the flowers.