The Beginning of Spring
February 4 - 20
In this hopeful episode, "The Beginning of Spring," Alexis and Kit notice signs of winter's end among the scents of the trees, the songs of birds, and a special, perhaps romantic, feeling in the air. Hiro's Corner takes a look at a boggy perennial.
Poems featured in this episode:
Hope by E. (Edith) Nesbit
O thrush, is it true?
Your song tells
Of a world born anew,
Of fields gold with buttercups, woodlands all blue
With hyacinth bells;
Of primroses deep
In the moss of the lane,
Of a Princess asleep
And dear magic to do.
Will the sun wake the princess? O thrush, is it true?
Will Spring come again?
Will Spring come again?
Now at last
With soft shine and rain
Will the violet be sweet where the dead leaves have lain?
Will Winter be past?
In the brown of the copse
Will white wind-flowers star through
Where the last oak-leaf drops?
Will the daisies come too,
And the may and the lilac? Will Spring come again?
O thrush, is it true?
***
More than shadow
Is the wind
Returning cold
— Teiko Inahata
***
The return of cold
Then the return of cold again
Springtime
— Nishiyama Hakun
***
Two hoes hang on the wall
Shallow Spring
— Murakami Kijo
***
Shallow Spring is coming
And already I'm in the garden
— Sekitei Hara
***
He Knows No Winter by Sudie Stuart Hager
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,
For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,
He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds
From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.
When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,
He visualizes autumn's golden yields;
He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain
Precious moisture for his early grain;
He hears spring-heralds in the storm's turmoil
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.
***
As evening deepens
The scent of burning fields
Rises in the air
— Inahata Teiko
***
The morning’s blue sky of Aso
Eagerly await
The burning fields
- Matuso Basho
***
February by Jane [Goodwin] Austin
I thought the world was cold in death;
The flowers, the birds, all life was gone,
For January's bitter breath
Had slain the bloom and hushed the song.
And still the earth is cold and white,
And mead and forest yet are bare;
But there's a something in the light
That says the germ of life is there.
***
Evening In A Sugar Orchard by Robert Frost
From where I lingered in a lull in march
outside the sugar-house one night for choice,
I called the fireman with a careful voice
And bade him leave the pan and stoke the arch:
'O fireman, give the fire another stoke,
And send more sparks up chimney with the smoke.'
I thought a few might tangle, as they did,
Among bare maple boughs, and in the rare
Hill atmosphere not cease to glow,
And so be added to the moon up there.
The moon, though slight, was moon enough to show
On every tree a bucket with a lid,
And on black ground a bear-skin rug of snow.
The sparks made no attempt to be the moon.
They were content to figure in the trees
As Leo, Orion, and the Pleiades.
And that was what the boughs were full of soon.
***
If not for the call
of the bush warbler coming
out of the valley,
who then would be aware of
the arrival of springtime?
— Ôe no Chisato, from the Kokinshū
***
Singing practice
every morning
with the warbler
— Issa
***
Even the warbler’s voice
gets hoarse -
snow still on Fuji
— Chiyo-jo
***
The warbler
has been perching on that plum-tree
for all eternity
— Onitsura
***
A warbler sings so sweet…
and by the eaves…
plum blossoms
— Buson
***
When the east wind blows,
Send me your perfume,
Blossoms of
the plum:
Though your lord be absent,
Forget not the spring.
— Sugawara Michizane
***
As on the plum comes
blossom after blossom, so
comes the warmth of spring.
— Ransetsu
***
All the snow melts --
everywhere the fragrance
of wild plum blossoms
— Tagami Kikusha
***
When everything has faded they alone shine forth,
encroaching on the charms of smaller gardens.
Their scattered shadows fall lightly on clear water,
their subtle scent pervades the moonlit dusk.
— Lin Bu
***
Lover cat
as a cat in love
has its own way
— Nagata Koui
***
While hitting
the heads of dandelions
cats in love
— Issa
***
Love drunk
Chasing after a chicken
A male cat
— Issa
***
Plum blossom scent
sends him off carousing...
lazy cat
— Issa
***
Cats in love
when they stop in my bedroom
a hazy moon
— Basho
***
Hearts Were Made to Give Away by Annette Wynne
Hearts were made to give away
On Valentine's good day;
Wrap them up in dainty white,
Send them off the thirteenth night.
Any kind of heart that's handy—
Hearts of lace, and hearts of candy,
Hearts all trimmed with ribbands fine
Send for good St. Valentine.
Hearts were made to give away
On Valentine's dear day.
***
1886 ST. VALENTINE'S DAY By Christina Rossetti
Winter's latest snowflake is the snowdrop flower,
Yellow crocus kindles the first flame of the Spring,
At that time appointed, at that day and hour
When life reawakens and hope in everything.
Such a tender snowflake in the wintry weather,
Such a feeble flamelet for chilled St. Valentine,--
But blest be any weather which finds us still together,
My pleasure and my treasure O blessed Mother mine.
***
Pancakes by Christina Rossetti
Mix a pancake,
Stir a pancake,
Pop it in the pan;
Fry the pancake,
Toss the pancake—
Catch it if you can.
***
Another year is gone with the sound of the firecrackers.
Spring is coming, we can feel the warm wind. It is time to drink the tu su wine.
On this bright new year’s day, thousands of families are busy.
Every family is busy with changing the old scrolls and putting up the new ones.
— Wang Anshi, Song Dynasty
A Seasonal Recipe: Chocolate Pancakes
Via Pretty. Simple. Sweet. Visit their website for more information and tips and tricks!
Ingredients
Pancakes
1 1/3 cups (185g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder (I use Dutch-processed)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil (or 45g melted butter)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (85g) chocolate chips or chunks
butter or oil , for cooking
Chocolate Ganache Sauce
140 g (5 oz.) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt (or whisk well with a whisk). Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until well combined. Add milk, oil (or melted butter), and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined and moistened. Do not over mix. Mix in chocolate chips or chunks. Set batter aside and make the chocolate sauce.
Chocolate sauce: In a medium heatproof bowl, combine chocolate and heavy cream. Microwave in 20- to 30-second increments, mixing in between, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside while making the pancakes. I like to pour it over the pancakes while it’s warm.
Cook the pancakes: Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat with butter or oil. For each pancake, drop 1/4 cup of batter onto skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes, until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and the bottom appears to be done. Flip carefully and cook another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and if you want you can cover the plate loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Coat the skillet with butter or oil before every pancake or batch of pancakes to prevent sticking.
Serve immediately with chocolate sauce (rewarm sauce in the microwave for a few seconds if needed).
Visual Examples of Seasonal Words
