20150320.0808

I would first bring attention to this post on the Tales after Tolkien Society blog. We can use more submissions (and I say "we" because I am chairing the session/s). If you or someone you know is interested in giving a paper in Nashville and has something to say about Old or Middle English...

So, today is a new moon, an eclipse, and the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere/autumnal equinox in the Southern. (There are people in the Southern Hemisphere. They ought not to be excluded.) At Sherwood Cottage, none are particularly relevant. We do not track lunar cycles, except perhaps as trivia for discussion. The eclipse will not really be visible from here, either. Spring has been present for a week or two, now, so the realignment of the world passes without notice. It is not as if there is a sudden re-greening today; it has been ongoing, and the front yard is awash in clover blooms. It is quite pretty, although it reminds me that I need to have my lawnmower serviced.

The backyard is less good. Last year, we had to have some plumbing work done, since not being able to use toilets, bathtubs, or sinks is a problem when there is no outhouse available and not enough plant cover to make an outhouse unneeded. (The weather also factored into the problem.) Much of the backyard was dug up in the work, and while various bits of green are now poking through the disturbed soil, parts of the yard have not been dry in months, and roots and debris emerge oddly from the ground. Tending to it does not look to be an enjoyable task, although it will need to be done, and it will likely need to be done soon. We have gotten rain this past week, and we look to get more before too long, if I recall correctly the forecasts I saw today.

I am not complaining of the rain. We need it, and badly; the rivers are low, and the things we eat and the things that what we eat eat need the water. Too, rain makes for better writing weather, and I have needed all the help with writing that I can get. (I am taking a bit of a break, though, given the need to prepare for the job interviews I have in the next few days.) But is also makes for yardwork, and, indoorsman that I am, I am not entirely thrilled at the prospect--even if the smell of freshly cut grass is a pleasure and an evenly cropped yard has other benefits to offer (among which is discouraging snakes from approaching the house too closely--and I have found snakes in the yard when I have not mown it as I ought).