So spring found me utterly exhausted. I sleep the sleep of small children. If I mistakenly lay down to watch some TV with the boys, at any time during the day, I fall right to sleep. It's not like I didn't just spend all of winter basically hibernating from most of my hobbies and playing board games with my children. It is due to the sheer physical, mental and business of spring.
As many of my friends and family know I hold basically 4 jobs: Mommy/family job (unpaid in money but paid in hugs and kisses), Garden consultant/environmental educator, Fiber artist and teacher, and of course the 3rd shift managerial work at the WG. The blessing is the 3rd shift work; I have a crew that I love to work with and admire, and although I may work 8 days of 10 hour shifts I then get 6 days off in a row. It's like mini vacations every other week. And yet, the exhaustion of spring comes from working in a box and not being able to convince my tired body that although it is so lovely outside I need to be inside a dark bedroom sleeping.
Spring brings me to one of my greatest and longest loves, gardening. I tried to grow plants in the windowsill of my basement dorm room in college, not to any great success but it gives you an idea of how long this has harbored inside of me. And I blame my grandparents. Spending time next to them either watching Grandpa Mcclure cut down trees, sugaring (that's making maple sugar for those not in the loop), and smelling diesel on him when he got done mowing. Or it was watching and helping Grandpa and Grandma Bowman in their flower and vegetable gardens as I grew up. I remember chasing rabbits out of the garden we had in our backyard in Wadsworth.
So you may think that spring is my favorite season, but I must correct you and tell you that it is only one of my favorite seasons. My hobbies are seasonal, and so each season brings forth another hobby. As spring has changed into summer (just couldn't stay awake to finish this blog in the spring) I find myself shifting gears. All of the garden beds are planted and are moving towards maintenance. Weeding, mulching, dead heading, harvesting and maybe a few more plantings of perennials I find on sale.
Summer also starts some of my favorite activities hiking, biking, photography, and I get to start felting again. My hands are just so grimy and tired from all the planting that felting is frustrating in the spring. I just cannot get the pressure I need to felt wool around soap, or the various cuts and scrapes catch the wool as I try to do needle felting, and again, I just cannot seem to stay awake.
Fall brings my family into the Fall Hiking Spree in Cuyahoga National Park. I get to do more felting, and the gardens slowly get put to “rest” with leaf mulch. It is the ending of a growing season and I love to get it all organized so next year's garden will be even better.
Winter is my time to blog, to rest, work out new felting designs, plan the garden and enjoy my family. I love the winter hikes, sledding, and just the peaceful look of the snow.
So, as you can see my life seems to mirror the natural rhythm of nature; Spring is bursting with so much life and activity I cannot stay awake when I am still, Summer is about fun with a little maintenance thrown in to keep me in line, Fall is about closure, and Winter is allows me to plan for the next cycle. I love that about this life and can only imagine how much more seasonal it will become as my kids grow up, my jobs change, and my hobbies grow.
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