The Land

This is the time of year we see patches of old snow by the roads and in the shady recesses of our yards. Plumes of sand and salt, left by the plows, billow in the air and our eyes are red and watery. In another month trucks with huge brushes will come by to clean up. Signs of spring!

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson is a fantasy series I read too many years ago to count. Covenant discovers an alternate universe called The Land, a place that is alive and beautiful, but the land is threatened by Lord Foul who wants to destroy it. Much has already been laid waste and the seasons are out of kilter. It is a scenario that sounds all too familiar today. What remains with me now are Donaldson's descriptions of the land and its sheer loveliness. I always think of The Thomas Covenant Chronicles at this time of the year when there is a stirring of rebirth.

It begins with the sound of melting ice, the slow plop of water drops, rushing water in a stream, cheery birdsong and that magical night when we hear tree frogs at last. We happily greet the first dandelion...only to do battle with them later in the summer. But I'm racing ahead of myself, this is only the beginning...

The signs of spring, as I used to know them, are often hidden in Maine.

Slowly melting ice in the firepond, fed by the millstream above.

A Mallard pair happily swim toward the reflection of my small village while disgruntled drakes go their own way. An image titled I Only Have Eyes for You taken 26 March, 2009.

A Belted Galloway mom gives her young calf a loving nudge at Aldermere Farm in Rockport, Maine. Photo taken 14 March, 2009.

Gardens will soon be raided by hungry deer. Photo taken on Mount Desert Island 28 March, 2009

We will wait another month for this bit of sunshine brightening the landscape and roadsides.

Photo of an abandoned house in Brooklin, Maine, taken 28, April, 2012.