Symplocarpus foetidus

Don't be alarmed by the title.  I didn't just run my fingers across the keyboard to see what silly thing I could create.  The title is the Latin name for the plant commonly referred to as Skunk Cabbage.  It is common in wetlands and is one of the first plants to show itself in the Spring.  So why is all this so worthy of a blog entry?  Because Ross and I went on a walk to the stream that feeds the small wetland portion of our property and found the Skunk Cabbage rearing its stinky, little head!  (Look closely for the purplish pointy thing sticking out of the stream.)

This is one of those moments that we look forward to each year.  It's a reminder of the wonderful things to come such as watching the white landscape melt away to green, to hearing the sound of the peeper frogs bellowing from the fire pond down the street, to the moment when we can open the windows and let the fresh air fill the house, and to the moment when we can shed all the extra clothes and feel the heat of the sun on our skin.  Who would've thought that something called Skunk Cabbage could create such joy!

Our stream under snow

On another Spring note,  Ross and I got our first packets of garden seeds in the mail.  We ordered them from the John Scheepers' catalog.  We got the catalog earlier this year, and I am throwing this out there because the company is local (less than a 5 minute drive from our house).  We placed the order on Thursday and got the seeds today.  I joked with Ross that they should have saved the postage and just dropped them off on their way home from work.  We are looking forward to digging in the gardens.  This will be Ross' first year of having a vine garden dedicated to melons and squashes.  Of course this opens room in his vegetable garden so he is starting to plan where everything will go.  Here is a link to John Scheepers' website: http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/index.html.  You can request a catalog there if you so desire our order directly on the web.  And on another side note, Google Maps has recently updated its pictures.  If you know our address, you can Google Map search it (you have to go two houses to the left of the pointer marker) and see the outline of the fence for Ross' vegetable garden in the back.  I am amazed at the detail.  Thank the Lord we didn't have our laundry hanging out to dry!