It’s a miserable raw damp day to be doing anything outside here in New England, which is exactly what I was thinking when I saw my favorite harbinger of better days ahead and the warmth of the coming season….. Elizabeth Hird’s crocus.
She scattered them in the lawn by our garage many moons ago. I should introduce her – She was an educator, Traveler, an Artist, a great philanthropist and a Gardener. The tall stand of pines on one side of our (her) house and the cedar grove on the other were all planted by the Hird/Rausches with the help of the neighbor boy some 50 years ago. He was paid a nickel a tree and delighted in the work. Those stands of trees are like sentinels to this farm, I mourn the loss of any that come down in heavy storms. Alas there have been a few.
The ancient lilacs in my kitchen garden, the old pear tree that still bears tons of fruit each spring even though it is completely hollow through its trunk… they are all reminders of Ms. Hird and her husband Basil Rausch.
She never knew me but I remember her. I was a teenager who visited my aunts farm up the road each summer here on Roast Meat Hill. I would see her occasionally around town wearing her signature wide brim hat, or gardening by the roadside as we plodded by on horseback to visit friends down the way.
Every year when I see those crocus I say – Hello Elizabeth … It’s so good to see you again 
They’re lovely! And what a legacy to leave this world!
She was a remarkable woman!
What a sweet memory. I’m glad that spring is peeking out at your house.
Me too… boy did we need it!
So true. We live in the spaces that others did before and we reap the benefits of the gifts they left behind. Those crocus are a gem!
Happy week to you, Karen. It’s so good to see you here again.
Thank you!.. good to see you here again too 🙂 I need to visit my favorite blogs!
This was a lovely story to end my day.
The signs of Spring really do bring back our memories! I have my post up today introducing my Jeep if you have a chance to stop by! Enjoy your weekend! Hugs!
I believe that avoiding refined foods is the first step for you to lose weight. They could taste excellent, but refined foods possess very little nutritional value, making you take in more in order to have enough electricity to get throughout the day. When you are constantly having these foods, transitioning to cereals and other complex carbohydrates will make you to have more electricity while having less. Good blog post.