return of the fiddleheads

Today was all about being outside , playing, soaking up a beautiful spring day
...and seeing if the fiddleheads had popped up!  

One of the things I love about our yard is that it is 4 acres of varying landscape.  We have  a large wonderful open area in the front yard, which is perfect for kick ball games, for football and for soccer.....your all purpose athletic field.   There is my mother's perennial garden which is a labor of love and in it's 2nd season so I expect it to really be beautiful this year.

The back of the yard is partially woods and the other area leads to a stream in the back of the property.   Near the stream it is the time of year for one of my favorite things to be blooming....

the fiddleheads!!!

Now, I know that I have  thing with fiddleheads and tend to humanize them, but that is just because they are so incredibly symbolic of our life.   

Their unfurling form, how they grow and change, sometimes alone and other times surrounded by other fiddleheads.  They truly are so special to me. I just love them and how they represent growth and change.

to add to my love of the flora and fauna of our yard....

these sprouts...

and then these mushrooms.   Recognize our family?   (again humanizing!)

so happy to witness the fiddleheads and their friends return for another season of growth and change.

return of the fiddleheads

return of the fiddleheads....

every year I go down to our creek and look for signs that they are emerging...

every year I am thrilled to see them return,

it just feels so very hopeful to see them come back after the long hard winter. 

 No matter what nature has made them endure....they return.   they survive.  they emerge. 

they are nature's  reminder of the many seasons of our life,

how in such a short time we grow, we change

but we grow and change.....on this earth TOGETHER.

Embracing fiddleheads

It is spring and the fiddleheads have sprung!  I just love seeing the fiddleheads resurface each spring.  It really is one of my favorite things.   

The way the fiddleheads uncurl and show themselves.  How they are ever changing and growing. How after a long winter they resurface... they are hope embodied.  Can you see how human they feel?  This fiddlehead is watching over her baby fiddles....

Here are my fiddleheads in my first digital collage.  It was a challenge to try a few new techniques with picnik's free editing to create this collage of my little fiddleheads.

 Here they are in all their sweet cuteness.  Gosh, I love these little people so much.

Embrace the fiddleheads in your life today...

And we wait...but the fiddleheads are popping up!

  


The wait for our sweet girl's referral continues...over 12 1/2 months and counting.  I am distracting myself with all kinds of art projects, house projects and gardening.  This weekend Juddy had his first day of soccer where I saw a baby who looks EXACTLY how I imagine our sweet girl.  Well, after a debate in my head, I decided to approach the Daddy holding him and asked the question "May I ask you a personal question?"  He said, "Yes", but was probably bracing himself.  Of course, I was asking if his son is from Ethiopia and he answered "Yes!".  I explained why I asked.  He understood and we started talking.  The baby was smiling at me and looked so happy with his Daddy it just got me all emotional.   Darn it!  I wish I could control that part of me better!  So, I got teary and started the "ugly face" cry for a moment.  My sunglasses couldn't hide the tear on my cheek.  Well, it was a tear of joy for my sweet girl, but also to see such a happy family and baby united.  I hope we will get to know this family better as they live fairly close.  It will be great for our families to know other Eth-Amer Families!  And so the wait goes on.  I am not on pins and needles, but have settled into the extended wait and am trusting the process as best as I can.  But, I can hardly wait!!!!

This weekend the fiddleheads are popping up in our backyard near the stream.  It is so beautiful to see their shapes and the way they appear to be snuggling together.  I just LOVE fiddleheads.  What is so special about them is that they remain fiddleheads for just such a short period before they bloom fully into ferns.  They remind me of children in how fast they change and must be cherished.  And they remind me of a family in how they are all curled together.