daily bliss: seed catalogs

I knew the day would come when I would hit the wall. You know, that winter wall. That day when taking out the garbage and filling up the car with gas seem too impossible because, yet again, it is zero degrees. That day when the itchy skin and the layers and layers of clothes feel so constricting you just want to stay in bed to avoid the whole ordeal.

That day, my friends, is today.

And so I'm struggling this morning to find that thread of gratitude, but I did receive a little gift and promise of Spring in the mail yesterday: the Seed Savers catalog.

Now, I am not *yet* a big gardener. Last year I grew two tomato plants and three cucumber plants that flourished, in part, because my neighbor/friend B also kept her eyes on them and watered them when I didn't. This year, however, I'd like to expand my garden. To grow foods that I can't buy at the excellent local farmers' market, such as beans--beans I will dry and use throughout the winter--lacinato kale, and little butterhead lettuces. They beckon me from the pages of the catalog, sounding so simply to grow.

Today, I need to believe in that simplicity, in that wonderful magic of the Spring thaw and the summer sun to carry me through a few more months of this winter. Make that to carry me through TODAY.