Dreaming in January

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth, --
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.


  ~Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney


Here in the middle of January my thoughts are turning to spring.  I cannot wait to plant my seedlings and start the process of gardening again this year.  I want to put up a greenhouse to have a place to start earlier than my normal season allows.  I am reading seed catalogues, and dreaming.


But keeping it real:


John Bird, a labourer, lies here,
Who served the earth for sixty year
With spade and mattock, drill and plough; 
But never found it kind till now.


  ~Sylvia Townsend Warner


Weeds always proliferate around here.  Bugs are aplenty, too.


Ever the optimist, I don't care.  I look forward to spring with much anticipation!


Behold in the bloom of apples
And the violets in the sward*
A hint of the old, lost beauty
Of the Garden of the Lord!


~John Greenleaf Whittier


*turf or grass