Blessings of springtime

The last two days have been really nice -- warm and bright. On days like this I find myself looking around a bit more than on the cloudy, rainy days that seem to be more common in a Georgian spring. Lovely spring-time blessings have touched my senses as a result of my observations -- sights and sounds and smells and feelings. Here are a few--

Two more animals here on the farm are pregnant -- Tea's black cow and Mouse (the gray-striped cat). Both of their bellies are getting rounder and rounder every day. Soon I'll be posting about delivering a calf..... if I am able to help.... and about some tiny, mewing kittens.

Yesterday I passed a mother horse with her beautiful newborn foal. The reddish-brown foal with four white stockings and a star hid behind its mother as the marshutka I was in jostled by. Peeking out around its mother's neck, the foal watched the strange, white machine with multiple faces staring out of the windows. The foal's legs were longer than the rest of its body and neck, with large, knobby knees wobbling uncertainly under the feather-weight. Its big, dark eyes wondered at every new spectacle, just like me.

The grape vines are finally sprouting new growth. Small leaflets have emerged from the buds, opening in hues of pink and gray-green, translucent in the sunshine. They are small now, but soon they will be large and dark green, shading the new grapes from the blazing summer sun.

Wildflowers carpet the ground. One hazelnut orchard that I walk by on my way to school is carpeted with buttercups right now. The small yellow blossoms dot the true green grass in a contrast that calls for the attention of all who pass by. Another orchard has a carpet of chickweed blossoms. The small spires of tiny purple flowers make the orchard look like someone has taken a crayon to the grass, coloring it all purple instead of green.

Yesterday evening, I went for a run. The clouds had moved in, but the air was still warm. Spritzy rain lay on my face and arms, cooling me as I ran. The warm rain moistened the air with a humidity that invigorated me as I moved through it. And the smell..... delicious, earthy, and alive.

The sun set at 8:15 p.m., and it will only get later as the days go on.

Last evening I sat in the kitchen with Tea and "Our Grandmother." We had the back door standing wide open to let the balmy breeze blow through the small room. I closed my eyes to enjoy the kiss of the fresh air.

As I walked out of the lower house to go to bed, I paused at the stairs to the upper house, arrested by the sight of the apple tree in the front yard. In the darkness, I could see the clusters of pink and white blossoms glowing on the tree like tiny ghosts floating within the branches. The sweet scent hung heavily in the haunted air.

Ah, the blessings and wonders of springtime!