Surveying the landscape for loss and new life

Purpose, transitions, and welcoming the wisdom of February

There are new buds at the base of my elderberry shrubs.

The clover we planted last fall, which failed to sprout and take root at the time, is starting to pop up from the clay.

And the glossy abelias we set into the landscape last summer are sparkling with new green.

Not everything we planted last year made it through the mid-December frost.

The grasses we …