Thursday 24 April 2014

The Rites of Spring

Mmmmm, maple syrup!

A favourite I used to participate in when I lived in suburban Washington, DC, was here in Cunningham Falls State Park: it's one of the few things I miss about living down there.

Bipolar weather, still

Meanwhile, our psychotic weather, like most of North America, continues: I was sitting outside in the sun this morning, combing dyed mohair locks for a spinning demo, wearing a sun hat for the first time this year, and almost got warm enough to want to shed my sweatshirt.

Twin-row comb

Of course, for the demo, it's supposed to snow. Again. Good thing it's not going to be outside....

There's some good karma in processing fibre outside in the spring: the process always results in cleaner fibre to spin because bits of trapped vegetation or dirt can easily fall out when you open up the locks.

Because it's being done outside, I don't worry much about cleaning up the plant stuff or the dirt, and any matted bits of fiber I remove can either be left for the birds to construct nests, or collected and used to line any potted plants that will need transplanting later on.

May 2013 Pilgrimage #8

And like so many other things that have been happening this spring, this too is a sign of returning normalcy in my life: it's been a long time since I've processed any fibre at all. Perhaps next month I might actually work on another few bags in my stash to feed my growing need to spin more yarns.

The photo above was taken up at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park not quite a year ago: when I was up there last Sunday, there was only brown grass and dirt in the exposed areas, and the trail was either muddy or snow-covered.

C'mon, Spring, I know you can do better than you have so far....

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