It’s January. It’s cold. It snowed this weekend. Here’s what it looks like outside my house:

Of course, other places got more snow this weekend:

Yeah, it’s January.
Despite all this January-ness, I’m finding little signs of spring. Yesterday I noticed that a few of my orchids are putting out new shoots with buds.
Orchid budding. One little bud on this one. A light green shoot with bud.
These orchids, by the way, are the champions of consistent, independent plant performance. I bought them at IKEA years ago for $11.99 apiece, and they have kept blooming and re-blooming, with very little help from me. What can I say, I think they like it here.
Budding plants are my favorite sign of optimism for the future. We don’t know that blooms will happen, and in the case of these orchids, it’s going to take some time for them to come into full flower. But as long as I pay a modicum of attention to them, they’ll do what they do, and I’ll be rewarded with blooms like these (this one’s from last March):

This week, I was feeling some budding of my own optimism. I signed up for the Bikes Not Bombs bike-a-thon for this June 14. I’m doing the 30-mile ride and fundraising for this organization that gives bikes to kids, teaches them how to ride and maintain bikes, and how to be good world citizens through bike riding.

And yes, there’s a little fundraising.

Signing up for a June charity ride has got me feeling excited about spring and summer riding already. Of course, I’ve got to pay attention to preparation (yes, this means riding the trainer) in order for my riding to be in full flower by June. My orchids and me– we’ve got some work to do. And this is the time for it.
Color me smiling.

Hey readers, what are you thinking about this January? Any budding thoughts or plans for spring and summer activities? How are you feeling about them? I’d love to hear from you.
I’m looking forward to my trip/delayed honeymoon in May!
Hey, we have one of those IKEA orchids and they are indestructible! We don’t generally do too well with house plants, but this one seems to keep itself alive. I love it!
Lovely orchids!
Alberta just left behind temporarily, over a week of -30 C winter days with up to -40 C windchill. So we are living in a reprieve right now.
My plans for spring of course, include more cycling….unfortunately e-scootering became very popular and my effort is to avoid them since a lot of them seem hesitant/don’t know what they doing.