Transitions

With the snow and ice finally gone from the garden, I went from clambering over snowbanks to raking leaves and pruning hydrangeas on Saturday -- a shift in activities so abrupt as to cause whiplash. But when John and I went to nearby Pacific Spirit Park for a walk on Sunday, we found stretches of ice as treacherous as anything we have seen during the whole of our six-week "winter." A last chance to break a leg! Fortunately, the ice was only on the route into the park; the trails inside were clear.  Using the prescribed "penguin walk" for ice we've perfected recently -- flat-footed, bent forward, sloooww shuffle -- we made it into the park and out without falling prey to this last reminder of what we've just been through.

 Some photos from the last couple of days:

Like a moat protecting a castle, the route into Pacific Spirit Park features a dangerous stretch of ice to keep out the faint-hearted. Here I am, doing the slow "penguin" shuffle to get through without breaking anything. The red thing in my hand is a folded-up umbrella. John took the picture. 

After the snow, the detritus that didn't get cleaned up last fall looks worse than ever.  The yellow things on the ground are hosta leaves; the brown things around the birdbath are dried hydrangea blossoms.

Here's what it looks like after my Saturday cleanup. Little shoots of green are starting to show through when the leaves are cleared away. 

The big hydrangea bush out front, battered and flopping after the heavy snowfall. This is pre-cleanup. It was too dark to photograph it by the time I'd finished. 

A pile of raked-up leaves on a tarp, ready to be moved. If you look closely, you can see Mr. Darcy supervising.