GARDEN DELIGHTS – EVEN IN WINTER

For some people, winter can be a rather bleak time of year. I understand that mindset and shared it for many years. But my attitude towards winter is slowly changing, now that I have a garden.For a number of years, I have been taking daily walks. Since we have a fairly long driveway, I tend to stay on our property when I walk. This puts me in our garden almost every day of the year. As a result, I am party to some spectacular seasonal events. Of course, I notice (and often announce excitedly to my family) the first robins and crocuses in the spring, or the first phalanx of geese flying south in the fall.But even in the winter, when the trees are bare and the lawn is an unsightly brown, there are delightful things to observe and celebrate. And, because there is so little competition for attention in this otherwise drab and colorless season, each discovery becomes that much more exciting. Even a brisk walk to the mailbox can be rewarding. Just the other day, as I walked to get the mail, my approach startled three cardinals in the shrubbery: what a delight to watch them swoop ahead of me down the driveway!In any other season, with so much color and hyperactivity, this spectacular event may have gone unnoticed. But on that cold, gray day, those scarlet harbingers of joy had my undivided attention! I’m discovering that a garden is a treasury of delights… even in winter! Joyfully shared by Betty HanselmanGardener’s wife (& year ’round garden joy seeker)