Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Short Take: Sap Rising
The weather has been SO FINE these past few days, that I just have to pause to appreciate simple pleasures like hot sun, cool wind, and the little pink noses of tulip leaves poking their way up out of the earth. I have been out in the garden raking off the dead leaves and fertilizing the perennials; even now I am typing with dirt underneath my fingernails, and I am in no hurry to brush it out, it feels good.
Most of us academics live far too much in our heads, and even more so now that we spend half our days in cyberspace. Springtime has a way of pulling me back to earth, and reminding me of the elemental rhythms that sustain us on this planet. Suddenly the ten urgent projects I have to attend to TODAY fade into the background; I find myself transfixed by the melodious love song of the cardinal singing high up in the maple tree, and nothing is more important than rifling through my drawers for the flower seeds my son and I harvested last fall from the last blooms of marigolds, cosmos, hollyhocks, mallow, and poppies, and getting them into the soil while the fine weather lasts.
The cold will no doubt return before the warm weather rolls in for good. And those projects I put off today really must get done tomorrow. But for now, I will savor the dirt beneath my fingernails, and revel in the heady feeling of sap rising--in the trees, in the plants, and yes, it's true, in me.
Most of us academics live far too much in our heads, and even more so now that we spend half our days in cyberspace. Springtime has a way of pulling me back to earth, and reminding me of the elemental rhythms that sustain us on this planet. Suddenly the ten urgent projects I have to attend to TODAY fade into the background; I find myself transfixed by the melodious love song of the cardinal singing high up in the maple tree, and nothing is more important than rifling through my drawers for the flower seeds my son and I harvested last fall from the last blooms of marigolds, cosmos, hollyhocks, mallow, and poppies, and getting them into the soil while the fine weather lasts.
The cold will no doubt return before the warm weather rolls in for good. And those projects I put off today really must get done tomorrow. But for now, I will savor the dirt beneath my fingernails, and revel in the heady feeling of sap rising--in the trees, in the plants, and yes, it's true, in me.
