How is spring where you are? Do you have any special rituals or observances? I'd love to hear about it :) I mark the earlier spring dates: the Equinox,/Spring Mara's Day, the Cross-quarter/Ūsiņš Day/May Day- even chocolate for Easter! For me though, in this western Alberta Climate, things are really getting going by Mothers Day. So for the last few years, since Mom's passing, I've been combining that with remembrance of her birthday (and of course her twin's, my aunt who is also gone) and a celebration of Spring and the traditional Latvian season, Time of Flowers- which would start just a little earlier at the Cross-quarter Day between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Even in my youth I'd collect the 2 to 4 native wildflowers that can be found at that time, especially the Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold (which we always called Cowslips, but I avoid that name now as it is too easily confused with the unrelated non-native species Primula veris which originally bears that name!) for Mom's birthday/Mothers Day, which are usually no more than a few days apart. This is nearly the first wildflower, and the showiest early one, for sure. In some years if the spring has been cold/slow, I may struggle to find 1 or 2 plants starting to flower, but often there are plenty. Now I collect the Caltha and a couple of other wildflowers- usually Petasites /Sweet Coltsfoot, but with a couple of drier springs, they are not flowering that abundantly, so I only picked 1; the earliest violets V. adunca and V. renifolia can be found in some years as well, this year included. I now also add things from the garden- since I focused a lot on getting early flowering plants in my garden, there are usually a number of things available: Drabas, Tulips, Corydalis, Hepatica, Anemones etc. Besides the flowers I placed branches of Aspen and Balsam Poplar, with leaves just expanding, along with native Dogwood, Snowberry etc to show the greening of the season. As well this time I included a couple of figurines- a white ceramic Penguin - Mom collected penguin items for years, and a glass Owl- Aunt D. collected owls. These are meant to represent the two sisters, but also to suggest Bird Goddess, one of the most ancient deities and connected to the Baltic/Latvian Great Mother (Mara or even Ragana! see several of my blog posts for more on that theme, link in bio). I honour this great feminine energy of creation, rebirth and growth- the incredible bursting forth of life of Spring and Summer! After some time spent gathering and placing the items on the outdoor altar, I sat for a bit with coffee, thinking of my Mom and Aunt, both of whom were very fond of flowers. The video also includes views from the garden as well as wildflowers and landscapes around the acreage and on the farm beyond that represent the week or nearly 10 days from the Cross-quarter Day just after the beginning of the month up until now. Various bits were shot from May 6 to May 14.

I hope you are able to find a way to connect with the rhythms of the seasons wherever you are, and have a beautiful season ahead! Music: 1- Into the Light by Oak Studios Creative Commons - Attribution ND 4.0 https://youtu.be/5nNVrUE4oDA

2- To Loom Is to Love - by The Mini Vandals YouTube Audio Library