Changes

     With each season, the decorations on the porch and in front of the house change.  The fall brings pumpkins, mums, and corn shocks with a fall flag, the flag tradition began when the kids were small and there was one for each season, plus a birthday, Easter, Valentines (our anniversary), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and of course, an American.
     Thanksgiving changes only  the door wreath and the flag, one my husband picked out long ago.  This one always brings a chuckle and the repeated quote, "This year we fight back."  It is a turkey dressed as a pilgrim with a blunderbuss.
      For Christmas, the door wreath and flag represent the season, sometimes with sprigs of fir on the porch light and the posts of the porch.  There are also a chainsaw carved Santa and Snowman that bracket the door.
      After Christmas, Santa comes in and an old fashioned sled goes out, leaving the snowman until spring.  The winter flag is brought out and hangs for the next couple of months.  Of course, the snow shovel appears and disappears, the kids toboggans are brought out if the grands are visiting or if the power goes out and we have to haul water, but they are transient and not really part of the décor.
      By mid March, we are tired of winter, the snow if we receive it is generally sublimation snow or light snow showers, the rains have set in, it is too cold and wet to play in the garden, or walk the dogs most days.  They don't mind the weather and will play outdoors on our farm regardless of the weather, including playing in the muddy creek when I think it is too cold to even wash them down with the hose.  After a couple of spring like days, a short walk yesterday, as hubby's knee is bothering him, I decided it was time to put away winter.  The Snowman and sled were brought in; the winter flag taken down and it and a couple of others that are showing wear from flapping in the persistent wind the hollow generates, were brought to my sewing area and repaired before being put away for the year.
     As Easter is only a couple of weeks away, that flag was brought out and hung and the blown decorated eggs hung from the grapevine wreath on the door.  Perhaps I will buy some pansy plants to put in the porch side pots.  But today also brought the end of the early spring weather we have had this past week.  Today is cold and rainy, sleet and snow showers are due tomorrow morning and the temperatures are returning to freezing at night this week.

     Soon it will be warm enough for the shrubs to recover from winter, for the Spider plants to be hung from the edge of the covered porch, the daylilies, iris, daisies and other perennials to bloom and the herb and flowers planted in the deck pots.  The garden will be seeded and another growing season will begin.  This year, there will be chickens running in the yard, helping to keep the bug population down and hopefully by midsummer, providing us with eggs.