a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Author: theMan

  • Hello Again



    I flipped the calendar page from February to March and saw I had crocus last March. That stirred me to investigate if the crocus under the horse chestnut were up.



    Up they are, loads of them.




    Daffodils too. Every year I see new daffodils, and each year seeing the first ones open is as delightful as it was many years ago.




    The rhubarb are popping up too. Here’s a good old friend, ever faithful, no matter how many times I eat it, spreading it’s new leaves, sending out thick stalks to feed me, though I doubt that is how rhubarb sees the situation. I’ve planted many rhubarb so no one rhubarb gets picked on by me too much.



    Spring means it is time to thin out the bamboo. Fresh bamboo poles become poles to trellis beans. Little by little, my vegetable garden, shaggy from winter’s storms, will be tamed, though not too much. Nature prefers to be messy.

  • Edison Chicken Parade 2020

    The 2020 Edison Chicken Parade was yesterday, Sunday, February 23. The parade happens every year at noon on the last Sunday of February. Which means next year’s parade will be on February 28, 2021.






    Edison Chicken Parade Route
    The parade starts at the south end of Cairns Court, the main street in Edison, WA. The parade proceeds north through the village. If you plan on going, arrive early. By 11:30 parking is hard to find and you may need to park a long way from the parade route. The best parking is at the elementary school on the east end of Edison. From there, it is a short walk to the parade route.

    A great alternate is to bike into Edison, or go for breakfast at Tweets and stay for the Chicken Parade.

  • Apple Aged


    There is one apple left on the apple tree. After going through fall, a week of snow, freezing temperatures, rain and more rain, it’s still hanging on. Aged apple. When will it finally drop?

    It looks like an asteroid that has traveled through many solar systems. I might look like that too if I spent all winter outdoors, unprotected from the elements.

  • Swan Heaven


    The first daffodil bud of spring gets taller and fatter each day. Someone forgot to turn off the hose a number of days ago. That was evident when I had to go down into the valley for some things today.


    Many of the corn, wheat, potato, and vegetable fields were expansive lakes today. Roads through the fields turned into mile long causeways.



    Hundreds of swans and thousands of ducks were in heaven today. For the swans it is much easier to float through a corn field than to waddle between the rows.

  • Winter’s Last Day


    On the Japanese calendar, this year Setsubun 節分, the last day of winter, falls on February 3, today. I’m ready to say good bye to winter and hello to spring. On Setsubun families throw roasted soybeans out the door and yell, “Demons out! Luck in!” Many gather at shrines and temples where priests toss beans out with the crowd yelling, “Demons out! Luck in!”

    Setsubun translates to division of the seasons: setsu 節 season and bun 分 divide. Technically there are four of these during the year, but whenever you hear Setsubun it is the end of winter that people are talking about.

    Tomorrow, February 4, is Risshun 立春, the first day of spring. Yeah, I’ll go along with that. Why wait until March 19 when by then, winter will be a memory and spring will be in full force? Might as well get an early start to spring. Nature is. A flock of robins showed up today. If robins say spring is here, who am I to argue with them?


    Fitting for the last day of winter, we had a bit of snow during the night. This morning it was an usual thick lace of slushy snow. I’ve never seen a snow like this. You can live for many decades and still see a type of snow you’ve never seen before. With infinite varieties of snowflakes, infinite combinations of temperature, humidity, wind, and what not, it’s not surprising that there are infinite varieties of snowfall which would take an infinite number of years to experience them all. Future generations will see varieties of snow I can’t begin to imagine.



    These skies are befitting a last day of winter. Good bye winter, see you again nine months from now.