As of this hour, not yet two full days into spring, and winter has already returned, hovering at the edges, making strategically short-lived forays inward to deliver a slushy mix of rain and snow.
And still, a nascent green spreads like wildfire across the surface of the land.
In this place, irrespective of calendar or temperature, the first day of spring arrives only with the first meadowlark. But lurking winter notwithstanding, this is a time for preparation, for planning: for making the earth ready, and ourselves with it.
The steady precipitation will make that a much easier task than in years recently past. Indeed, last year, it was not difficult, but impossible. Without water, there is no planting here. This year will see a return to gardens, to hay in the fields, to a harvest at summer’s end. But it is this work, the planning and the caretaking and the early labor that is the heart of the season — the essential core of spring, and thus of summer, too.
Today’s featured work is a part of that heart, a traditional expression of the work and of the lifeways behind it. From its description in the Other Artists: Pottery gallery here on the site:
Keep your seeds safe and dry in this perfectly-shaped little seed pot by Benito Romero (Taos Pueblo). Great for storage in the cold months, and useful for dispensing seeds during planting season. Made of the Pueblo’s local micaceous clay; 3″ high by 3.5″ across at widest point (dimensions approximate). Top view shown below.
Micaceous clay
$65 + shipping, handling, and insurance
If the current wether patterns, so clearly, visibly in motion, around the edges of the land, are any indication, we shall have more rain today, and more snow, too. The earth is ready for it: just damp enough to continue to absorb it; not so wet that we are in any danger of flood. The pace at which the green is racing across its surface reminds us that it is time to begin sorting seeds, tilling the soil, plotting the dimensions and organization and make-up of the various gardens. For the first time in two or three years, we have been granted the chance to sow, to nurture, to cultivate, to watch the corn and beans and squash, other fruits and vegetables, flowers and medicines, all grow healthy and strong — a chance renewed for an abundant harvest nearer year’s end.
But it all begins with the lifeblood, the breath, the heart of the season . . . and of the work.
~ Aji
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