Shadow and light. That is what I reflected about only briefly over here the other day. There is so much injustice and sadness in our world, but this latest tragedy, an unnecessary Russian attack on Ukraine, is an enormously unjust war. It’s hard to talk or write about much else at this time. So I’ll just share some photos of the shadows that were captured on the beautiful white powder the other day after our first significant snowfall of the season.

And here we are now at March 1st. We have been working hard trying to get fencing ordered so Spruce can get a larger area to play; and trellis & supplies ordered for the orchard. We got our first email from a nursery today confirming delivery of our first new fruit trees of the season in just a few weeks. And despite all the snow on the ground, we can feel the pace picking up — spring plantings and projects are all ready and eager to sprout. And they will.

But right now I feel a bit stuck – and burnt out too – from the endless bad-news cycle. We were fortunate to get to go on a wonderful vacation to Costa Rica a few weeks ago (a trip we were supposed to take pre-pandemic) and it was really restful and special. We are so thankful we were finally able to make it happen — and cherish the memories — but it does seem VERY far away now. We are back to reality and mostly it is a good one in our little homestead bubble. But the weight of the world feels heavy right now. It has been an exhausting few years for just about everyone on planet Earth, and this new war sadly invites a new level of somberness to everything. I recognize there are many other tragedies playing out all over the place — all kinds of injustices that amazing human heroes and heroines tackle day in and day out. Today I simply recognize our many blessings and pray for peace in our world. Let’s hope we see more light and less dark shadows in the coming days and weeks.