There was a taste of Spring last week. The perennial plants that line my garden were coming to life, buds were breaking, while the leaves and flowers of my berry plants began to take their first breath. I was on Spring Break, trying my best to relax, while also trying to do too much work. Homework, a take-home exam, concrete research, and chores. In spite of my desire to rest and relax I seemed to have given myself too much to do (and played a little too much Minecraft) to nap and read and work on my health.
Spring break ended while I was cramming for a Transportation Engineering Exam and working on Engineering Econ homework. Spring break ended, and winter returned. A dusting of snow and hail, and a biting chill came after a few weeks of a warm false spring.
Tiny pellets of ice blew and fell and bounced of my glasses as I rushed to haphazardly drape cloth around these plants—an act that hopefully protected them from the frost as much as it protected my sanity. I always have to do something when things go wrong, even if its useless.
I did what I could, covering the signs of new life budding from my three year old blueberry bushes with pirate sheets that used to line the twin beds my brother and I used in Elementary school. I repurposed a towel, typically used as an exercise mat when I have the motivation to run and stretch and pretend I am still a cross-country runner. As of now, 4 days later with air that has again embraced the warmth of spring, these plants seem to have kept their buds.
With hail and worry, exams and plants.
I returned to University pining for shorts, yet wearing pants.
Duncan Phillips 
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