“The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.”
The world is finally waking up from its winter’s sleep. The forsythia are starting to bloom so pockets of bright yellow are sitting along the roadside. The hyacinths have bloomed and are scattered in the gardens in a variety of colors. Mine are pink, purple and white. In the front garden I see small shoots getting taller every day. I don’t know what they are. I think maybe I just have to be patient to see what they’ll become.
In winter I abide the weather. That’s just the way it is. But as winter finishes its cycle, I get impatient for spring. I want gardens bright with flowers. I want warm days. I want color. Summer is another season I abide. When it first arrives, I am so happy to feel the warmth, to sit on the deck and to have all the windows open to the sounds of the birds and the sweet smell of the season. By August, though, the summer is too hot and humid. It is time to be inside with the air conditioner. I want cooler days. I am ready for the end of summer and the first stirrings of fall, my favorite of all the seasons. Fall never seems to last long enough. All of a sudden we have our first frost, and I am reminded it will be winter’s turn again, but now we are as far away from winter as we’ll ever be. I am so happy for the coming of spring.
The air is a bit chilly, but we have sun so I’m not going to complain. This morning it rained a bit, and I expected a cloudy, damp day. What a nice surprise to see blue skies and the sun so rare of late.
When I was a kid, this would be bicycle weather. My bike stayed in the cellar all winter and it was quite an ordeal to get it out of the cellar and up the stairs. A concrete wall was a step or two across from the cellar door. It was one side of the set of stairs. The other side was the foundation of the house. My bike couldn’t come straight out of the cellar as there wasn’t enough room because of that wall. It had to be turned in creative ways so it faced the cellar steps. I used to lift it as I was going out the cellar door so only the back tire was on the ground. I’d hold the bike as best I could and pivot on the back tire so the whole bike faced the steps. I’d then squeeze to get in front of the bike so I could pull it up the stairs by the handlebars. That was slow going, step by step. When I was finished and was finally in the backyard, I’d mount my bike, ride it across the grass then ride down the forbidden hill in pure triumph with my arms raised, a sort of Tour de France gesture. I didn’t care that I left wheel marks. I deserved that hill.
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April 11, 2016 at 2:09 pm
It’s ‘Lightnin’ A-Plenty!’ here in my Quiet Little Ville today … had a line come thru earlier that caused enough crackin’ in my Early Warning Lightning Detector (the 600 dial position of the AM radio band) to make me cautious. Closed all my open apps, ejected the attached external hard drives, and powered down before unplugging. Some of my friends say I’m being overly anal-retentive about this. They make the mistake of believing – as they’ve told me often – that Mister Surge Suppressor is all I need. Wrong. Mister Surge Suppressor only works when the surge is generated by the power company. It fails when the surge is generated by a lightning strike. Until the day a ‘surge suppressor’ is made that will provably protect my system from lightning, the safest doctrine is power down and unplug. That way I know it’s safe.
We’ll probably get into that whole ‘Spring’ thing gradually – which is fine with me. The longer the hot weather stays away, the happier I become. I realise that hot weather is what makes my beloved heirloom tomatoes grow and prosper, but I’d be so much happier if they were – what’s the term? – ‘cold-hardy.’
When this bout of rain ’n stuff is done with, I may take the camera on a walk to photograph the tulips in bloom on the property. I have to admit they’re quite the pretty little flower, and these are all reds ’n yellows – no blues or whites this time.
I trusted my bike, even tho’ I wasn’t so sure about the chain drive. After I removed the chain guard, I lost count of the times the cuff of my jeans became engaged with the sprocket and the chain – which usually meant my pocket knife would come into play when I got tired fighting with both pieces. Didn’t happen often, but it happened.
The Musical Interlude for today is by R¡an Steµart and is titled ‘Under the Willow’ … enjoy.
April 11, 2016 at 7:37 pm
Richard,
I always pull out the electrical wire when there is a lightning storm. The last thing I want is to fry my computer. It being a MacBook makes it easy to protect.
55˚ is spring around here. It will be June before warm weather comes. Those tomatoes are an August crop.
My front garden is lovely with colorful flowers. I always stop before I go anywhere to admire the flowers.
Once in a while my pants would also get caught. I used to move the chain to get the pant leg to move as well. It usually came loose when I did that.
I had the most hectic afternoon so this music is perfect. Thank you1
April 11, 2016 at 3:17 pm
The Prince is not without size and quite clearly he has outgrown his bike. We do need to visit the Rochester Bike Shop and secure some new wheels that are at once useable but have perhaps 3 years of use. Like his footballing Uncle, The Prince is going to be very tall and already is as big as his Mum
The weekend was so awful with snow and sleet and other stuff that he and I did not go bike shopping but it was on my mind
This Friday brings the Disney remake of ‘”the Jungle Book” and we warmed up by watching the original 1967 cartoon for 110th time and backed that up with a Jungle Book quiz, too and from Chapel which was targeted primarily at trashing Grandma’s lack of King Louie savvy.
Nothing has flowered. Its time
April 11, 2016 at 7:44 pm
My Dear Hedley,
We never started with smaller bikes. My first bike was a tall one, and i just about hit the pedals. My dad lowered the seat so all was good. When I got taller, he raised the seat so the bike lasted a while.
Does The Prince play football? My grandnephew is 9, nearly 10, and has been asked to join the football traveling team, quite the honor for someone so young. His father did the same thing but for soccer and he got a full scholarship to Oregon State. Ryder likes soccer but football is more fun says he. Ryder is also tall for his age but that comes from his mother’s side.
I remember the summer I had to help my friend by babysitting her 3 year old while she ferried the older two boys to swim lessons. We watched Sleeping Beauty just about every day. I explained to her that Maleficent was evil because Mal(e) in a word means evil. She was thinly 3 year old who would tell people she was the mean fairy and her name is the hint.
April 11, 2016 at 4:57 pm
My Magnolia tree is in full bloom, now it’s definitely spring.
I hope you feel better today.
April 11, 2016 at 7:46 pm
Birgit,
I was somewhat better this morning then I had to bring both cats to the vets so I had to haul them in two crates. Now my back is sore, but it is my fault. I’ll have to grin and bear it as my mother would say.
April 11, 2016 at 9:25 pm
Spring has sprung around here about a month ago. This is the time of year when the supercell thunderstorms build up ahead of a dry line or cold front and tower over 60,000 feet. They produce large hail, torrential rain, straight line winds of over 100 MPH or killer tornados.This evening Plano got hit again with softball size hail that knocked out car windshields and are keeping the body shops and roofers busy. May is usually the wettest month due to the number of storms.
When I was a kid here in North Texas we never put the bicycle away for the winter. It was my freedom allowing me to roam beyond my neighborhood.
April 11, 2016 at 10:19 pm
Bob,
Your spring comes far earlier than ours. I think I’d prefer a hurricane to a tornado. The hurricane gets everyone. We don’t often have hail, and when we do, it is small.
Spring can be rainy but that’s a maybe. May will have warm days but it will also have cold days. I remember sitting around a fire pit on July 4th, and we were all wearing sweatshirts because it was so cold.
Usually our bikes got put away in November. That was always a sad day!
April 12, 2016 at 9:23 am
Finally Spring today in the Ohio valley! First day of April without a shower here. My phlox is peeking over the wall and my tulips that I planted last Autumn are divine. I fear I may have pulled my Clematis up thinking it was the bush that appears to be growing by leaps and bounds–time will tell. Bicycles are the first sign here as well. Hope you feel better this week–Sunshine always makes me happy…
April 12, 2016 at 11:16 am
Splendid,
Thanks for the hopeful wish. Yesterday we had sunshine but not today, a rainy day.
My clematis grows all over my front fences. Three of the panel sections are now covered and I hope this season the fourth will be too.
I believe my back was overused this weekend so I look like Igor in Young Frankenstein or the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Lots of spring bulbs have flowered. I love it!