My sixth album, Rosewood Almanac, is almost complete. A session to record the string arrangements that I have written is happening in a week and a half, and the weather is getting warmer, and things are looking up all around. It probably won't come out for quite a while yet, but it's nice to be able to predict when I'll be able to put the bow on it, call it done, and begin to focus on the songwriting process for a new batch of songs. Everything in my creative process is cyclical and seasonal, and everything in it is a reaction against complacency. In the winter, sometimes, I get complacent, particularly when it is very cold. I never get much songwriting done when it is bitterly cold outside. But now the tulips have bloomed and the mourning doves are talking and there is a man mowing the lawn next door. Blair and I are talking about building a chicken coop and getting some hens to lay eggs. She has been hard at work at our vegetable garden, and everything has been planted and now it is time to wait for things to sprout, just as it is in other areas of my life. I love that feeling of promise. It's easy to be patient when you know you have tried your hardest to make something good, and when it means it's time to mentally move on to the next thing and start again, which is the most exciting part, in some ways.

I made a spring playlist, which you can listen to on Spotify here. I have one more playlist to make, for summer, and then the playlist project will be complete, I think. You can see all of the playlists here.