Winter Whites

"Two seasonal diversions can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other, seed catalogues." - Hal Borland

My garden is asleep under a blanket of white. I flip through catalogs, making plans for warmer months.

I want every flower in those catalogs and I won't whittle down my list until it's official someone else has won the lottery.

I peer out my window, keeping tabs on the ancient arbor, stripped of flowers until next spring. It's listing to the left but so far shows no sign of tumbling.

I'll bet you're wondering why I planted pear trees next to a flower arbor. Well, that was before I knew what I was doing. (Though I'm not so sure I currently know what I'm doing.)

Frosty Kokopelli plays a tune in my sleepy garden. In Hopi legend, Koko travels from village to village bringing the change of season, from winter to spring.

If that is true, then Koko should walk slow so as not to foil his own magic.

Gardening is 5 long months away, though I don't mind. The days are so warm we hike toward the old stone house with jackets tied around our waists.

Mornings glitter with frosty diamonds on all the trees.

And, we gardeners can happily hibernate! Just like the bears ~ while we scheme and dream and wrestle with flowering plans for the coming season.