Like so many in this neck of the woods I have been looking forward to Spring and when the Equinox rolled around, I was eager, but underwhelmed by the lack of blooming springiness in my midst. In fact it was very much still winter here. I have a sign that I stitched many years ago that I usually hang up around late February after all the Winter Solstice/Welcome Winter decorations have been taken down that requests, Come Spring. Or maybe it commands, or begs, I'm not entirely sure. The equinox is when the light seems so obviously to have crept back to us. Our chickens orchestrated a laying protest during the last month of Winter, not a single egg. Then suddenly the light shifted and temperatures steadily began to rise and voila we were back to almost an egg a day per chicken. And so the first month of spring has come and gone and we are well on our way to bloom and grow.
Last week my sister, brother-in-law and two nieces came to visit. There was plenty of mad chaos and delight for everybody, plus lots of delicious food cooked, adventuring about and plenty of time to commune at home. For me this time of year is about reemergence, celebrating the light, planting seeds. It is a time to reflect on the fertility of the earth and the potential of all beings, the freedom to comfortably be out of doors for long stretches of time, the reimagining of connecting to and participating in my community. As a mother of two young children I think a lot about what traditions we are creating as a family and for our children. I think about how to give meaning and shape to the year as we shift through the seasons. I grew up celebrating Easter, but admittedly I have searched outside my childhood box for spiritual meaning and sustenance. My husband grew up a cultural Jew in New York, steeped in the rigor of communist thought and intellectual inquiry. But, organized religion does not feel like a genuine connection point for us and so we have sought to create something else for our family. I'm not exactly sure what this something else is, but I know that it has something to do with community, food and making.
This year as our Welcome Spring, not quite Passover nor Easter, but a subtle homage to the two and more ancient traditions, Celebration we decorated eggs. I talked about the chickens laying more eggs, the abundance of bunnies we are suddenly seeing around town, how the earth and animals seem to be bursting with life and how we too seem to be just as eager to embrace the world outside our door. Happy Fertility and Blooming Day was heard more than once in our backyard discussions. But really it was about the chance to make art together.
And I think we did a pretty good job of making said art. There was a good amount of set-up required, but the results were worth it. I have an affinity for natural dyes and making everything myself, sometimes it works like a dream, and other times, not so much. Three years ago we experimented with beets, tumeric and blueberries to imperfect effect, but I've steadily honed my craft and this year tumeric and red cabbage created deep and satisfying colors after an overnight soak in their color baths.
My girls were in the market for more of a quick fix and although factory farmed conventional eggs and kool-aid aren't exactly things I have any desire to support, sometimes I bend a little. Paint pens from the local art store and kool-aid mixed with oil helped us create pretty dreamy marbleized and patterned eggs. We also experimented with collecting leaves and blooms from around the neighborhood, pressing them to our eggs, then wrapping and securing old stocking around the egg to hold the plant matter in place. These eggs were dunked in kool-aid and when peeled apart created cool shadow prints!
It feels as if a solid foundation for our celebration of spring has been laid. I look forward to growing these traditions with my extended family in the years to come. How do you and your family welcome spring? I'd love to know. Feel free to leave your stories in the comments section.