by
Jean Hughes
April 29, 1996

This morning every living thing has spring fever. Dogs are stretched out everywhere and only raise an eyelid until they are sure I am going for a walk. Ducks lie quietly, preening occasionally with lax abandon. They seem to be contented ducks. The mules are not waiting at the gate. They are on lush pasture and lie in the sun, giving me only a glance. Birds sit in the sun, singing softly. Flowers bask on the ground and a buzzard flies all the way across the sky without flapping a wing.

What's a person to do? I have no choice. I bask, too. But not for long. It is a day for roaming.

After a long walk, I lie on a hillside under a faded blue sky, amid flowers so thick with blooms that there is hardly enough room for some of the blossoms to open. There are bloodroots with blooms three inches across. Cluster of isopyrum almost crowd out the nosegays of purple, lavender and yellow violets. Trout lilies nod among the toothworts, cress and spring beauties. Wake robins and fern fronds, pre-made to perfection and wrapped tightly into tiny, natural jelly-roll slices, expand to the sun. And there are dandelion greens for picking.

A Day like this one has me in its power. The air is soft, soft, soft. The bird songs are as sweet as honey. My field glasses bring the singers right up to my nose. I listen to the bees with golden wings, and the flying ants with opaque wings that catch rainbows from the sun, and the flies, and the tiny insects with whom I'm not personally acquainted. A thousand wings compose a humming springtime symphony.

This is a day too good to be true. Nothing is stinging or biting. It is a daydream of delight.

Fry until crisp, then drain: 4 slices bacon. 
Remove from pan all but 2 T. drippings.
Saute in drippings until tender-crisp: 1 cup fresh mushrooms and 
1 cup thinly sliced onion.
Add: 2 cups canned green beans, reserving liquid.
Blend: 1/2 cup bean liquid, 1 T. soy sauce, 1 T. wine vinegar, 
2 T. cornstarch and 1 T. honey.
Pour over vegetables in skillet and stir until thickened.
Stir in: 1/4 cup slivered almonds.
Top with crumbled bacon. Serves 4 to 6.

A good spring rain has made lawns come to life, and green leaves on the trees have come out overnight. Although today is cloudy, nature's beauty still decorates the woods. The redbuds look like big bouquets. They are a shade of pink that is delicate against the backdrop of new green, but will be startling when the sun comes out.

Dandelions and violets, growing side by side, decorate my roadsides and stray into the open woods. When in the places where humans do not dwell, dandelions can show their beauty without becoming a menace. They are a job to remove from the lawn, but it is possible, and if caught at the right time, they make delicious greens.

I would love to give my lawn over to the wild plants of the hills, but my family wants grass, and I have acres of hills and hollows where the wild things grow in peace. However, I do have a small, round wild garden in the side yard, which is referred to by everybody but me as Jean's weed patch.

A garden is a joy to anticipate. I look forward to the flowers of the vegetable plants. Bean blossoms are my favorites in spring, squash blossoms in summer. In the "time for everything" the big planting days are almost here!

Jean's book of ramblings and recipes "A Country Mile of Winter" and her book of poetry "The Earth's My Home" are available for $4.95 each plus $1.30 for postage and handling. Ten of Jean's favorite recipes will be included free with each book ordered. Order from...

Country Mile Publications
616 E. Monroe
Delphi, IN 46923