In Turkey Hollow we really have only three seasons - summer, fall and winter. The months that others classify as spring are really just 'mud season' in these hills. This is the time of year where it snows one day and rains the next. Then the twenty-some inches of snow on the ground begin to melt as the sun heads North. And the combination of all these meteorological elements just creates mounds of mud everywhere. The roads are muddy, the porch is muddy, the inside of the car is muddy, the paths are muddy, even the deer are muddy!

Now there are benefits: You discover once again that the sun is no longer just a stage prop like during the winter months - you can actually feel the warmth on the skin. You know that under all that melting snow are the hundreds of daffodil bulbs that were planted last year. If experience is any indicator, with the last of the snow baby buds everywhere should already be pushing up from the ground. The deer at last have some ground cover and bushes to feed themselves. You can catch Attila and Baby especially sprawled in the backyard like South Beach sunbathers. All they are missing are the wedgies and Mah Jongg tiles.

Wayne Keller has dismantled Turkey Hollow's solo snow plow for the winter. All of us are putting the last repairs on our snow blowers and putting them in storage. At the same time, we are looking for those weed whackers and hoes and tillers one needs now that cranky ol' winter has shuffled away from our mountain top. In the mud season, we have to repair the spots where animals have created muddy paths and put new grass seed down with straw on top so the new robins don't feast on the seed. (I think they're so busy stealing the straw for nests that they don't even notice the seeds!). Tree limbs downed from the winter storms have to be collected from one's land and surrounding woods to keep the fire hazard to a low level.

However, there are serious problems with the onset of mud season. The combination of warm sun and muddy conditions breed the strongest cases of Spring Fever. One is tempted to just flat-out lie on the floor where the sunbeams dance on the linoleum and just nap like one of the cats. Indeed, often there will be a parade of felines crawling on your back to hunker down and share the rays as you bask in the sun. If only someone would come along and rub my belly as I do my cats! Now that would make the season just purr-fect. (Sorry)

Guess the mud season up here also brings out the 'mud season' in politics, too, as charges seem to be flung left and right from the campaigns. Reverend Wright? Passport information breached? John McCain not knowing the difference between Sunni and Shia? Think we all need a good week's vacation from all of the heated rhetoric. Lord knows there will be ample opportunity to weigh in on those issues after all those clothes on the floor of the closet are finally organized.

There does seem to be a fair amount of shrillness in politics this spring and passions are pitched and pointed. In one way, I feel I may have contributed to that atmosphere at times with headlines on my site that would be better placed in the New York Post! Also, my words often have been barbed and not always chosen in the best way to create dialogue between opposing forces. So, in the best tradition of 'spring cleaning', I promise my readers to edge away from the occasional shrillness and move toward more consistently thoughtful dialogue. Besides, that is really who I am and where I am most comfortable.

Don't get me wrong: My support for Obama will continue to be strong and deeply felt. And I'm not even sure I have the capacity to temper my passions about the War in Iraq. However, I will attempt to steer the impact of my words to long-term consensus-building instead of short-term point-scoring. You all know I will be imperfect in this quest, but it is a good goal for me to aim for on a daily basis. I'm sure the Comment Board will weigh in on my successes and failures!

After all, everyone needs to do a little Spring Cleaning. So let's all enjoy the sun, avoid the mud and in the process, mix a little light with our heat.

Photographs taken in Turkey Hollow by Steven Guy