During the first January thaw, I got the shovel out and buried two buckets of sizable gold nuggets, about 14 of them. These are the old fashioned kind of nuggets that come with an inexplicable time-release feature, so it won’t do any good to come hunting for them now. The only way I was able to dig down about half a foot in mid-January is because I chose two locations right beside the foundation of the house. (I shouldn’t have given you that much of a clue.)
Speaking of buried treasure, see the pompom on top of the wool hat in the left of the photo? (The bird bath is under the pompom.) Beneath that big, soft hat, roses are fast asleep, dreaming of springtime, dreaming of twittering birds that will come to drink and bathe in their midst. When two of those roses wake up, they will display blossoms shaped like golden goblets that have fire in their hearts, fire stored now in the depths of the earth.