On the Vernal Equinox

The lettuce got planted this week, and just like that, I started to wake up from the long-running winter lull that had taken over in its usual and truly oppressive fashion.  I opened the pantry door, and noticed the jar of homemade vanilla extract that I started back at the end of December, and that will be ready in another week or so.  And then I walked outside to hang the laundry out to dry (reason enough to appreciate the change of seasons) and I saw the buds starting to burst out on the wisteria vines.

We can finally breathe a sigh of relief.  Winter is over.

Crafty projects are beginning again, which means hits and misses are everywhere.  An attempt to make my own sugar body scrub turned out beautifully earlier this week, and I find myself craving time to take a shower so I can slough off a little more of the winter dullness and revel further in the glorious silkiness that the oils leave on my skin.  Two different recipes for baguettes - God bless crusty, chewy bread - turned out mostly decently but still need more practice.  This afternoon's frozen mocha drink recipe reminded me that Frappuccinos are just too sweet and all I really wanted was a big steaming mug of hot, black coffee anyway.

The idea is to try new things, not for every new thing to be exquisite.

My list for this Spring keeps growing, in the best of ways, and I hope to keep this momentum going before the midsummer heat sets in and everything begins to slow down again - including my sluggish extreme-temperature-sensitive brain.

And so, a few short hours before the Equinox, while the temperatures are temperate, and on a day when the hours of daylight will perfectly balance the hours of nighttime, I plan the projects for this welcome new season.

It is my own brand of bucket list, you see, only much less grand in scope, and far more achievable.

Spring is a time of gentle new beginnings, and so is my list:

1. Learn how to bake a perfect baguette (at least once)
2. Make my own liquid dishwashing soap, for hand-washing purposes (the Dishwasher soap recipe is still working beautifully)
3. Make my own laundry detergent
4. Rig up a pulley clothesline system from the back stoop
5. Attempt proper succession planting to extend the luscious and lovely salad greens season
6. Read Love Wins and come to my own conclusions regarding eternal torment
7. Hold Crane Pose for longer than 2.4 seconds (without falling on my nose again)
8. Craft a family mission statement that all four of us can get on board with (without rolling our eyes)
9. And most importantly, accept that this season may come to an end before all of the items on this list have been successfully crossed off

Happy Equinox, my friends.