I am so grateful for a husband who cares for our feathered friends by planting trees and shrubs for their shelter and providing food for their sustenance.

My heart warms to know our garden is a winter haven for many varieties of birdlife and delights in the life and beauty these feathered friends add to my days!

Contributed by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife (& avid bird watcher)

“We are accustomed to consider Winter the grave of the year, but it is not so in reality. Winter is pause in music, but during the pause the musicians are privately tuning their strings, to prepare for the coming outburst. Underground, beneath snow and frost, next spring and summer are secretly getting ready. In Nature there is no such thing as paralysis. Each thing flows into the other, as movement into movement in graceful dances.”

~Alexander Smith (Scottish poet and essayist; 1829-1867)

What spring or summer garden plans are you turning over in your mind during the winter pause? We’d love to hear from you and help you “prepare for the coming outburst” now: 717-653-1273.

Shared by Betty Hanselman

Gardener’s wife

“Like mimic meteors the snow
In silence out of heaven sifts,
And wanton winds that wake and blow
Pile high their monumental drifts.

And looking through the window-panes
I see, ‘mid loops and angles crossed,
The dainty geometric skeins
Drawn by the fingers of the Frost.

‘Tis here at dawn where comes his love,
All eager and with smile benign,
A golden Sunbeam from above,
To read the Frost’s gay valentine.”

~Frank Dempster Sherman (American poet; 1860-1916)

Shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife

Here in the Northeast, we observe four seasons and either celebrate or rue the seasonal changes that dictate our wardrobe, our activities, and our house and garden projects.

In Japan, however, the traditional Japanese calendar divides the year into 24 major divisions which are each split again into three for a total of 72 kö (or micro-seasons) that last around five days each. In their present form, these 72 “seasons” offer a poetic journey through the Japanese year, exemplifying a culture infused with deep sensitivity and appreciation for the nuances of nature.

Inspiring me to walk through each day with senses wide open to the wonders around me, here are a few of the beautifully lyrical descriptions of Japan’s seasonal changes: Spring wind thaws the ice; Brush warbler starts singing in the mountains; First Cherry blossoms; Distant thunder; Wild geese fly north; Bamboo shoots sprout; Rotten grass becomes fireflies; Hawks learn to fly; Evening cicadas sing; Maple and Ivy turn yellow; North wind blows leaves from the trees . . . .

What about you? What seasonal beauty speaks to you on this November day?

Gratefully shared by Betty Hanselman, Gardener’s wife,

from: https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00124/?fbclid=IwAR3wMhb39KtmXeYq_P6NE746ouSOzLucf4_RFVPhHTd11EKPFZHx2JKh8T8 and https://www.kurashikata.com/72seasons/?fbclid=IwAR0BP3CNSgp6peLKCYG7DbJnEdJuX9Nra_aNdNG2XGAeWXxpDgS3f1AmABU