“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”. . . “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine . . .”
Today is another beautiful spring day with lots of sunshine. It is cooler than yesterday but not by much. I was out with Gracie for a while. She had a tough morning. The inside stairs were too slippery so I grabbed and held on until she got her footing on a mat I had moved from one step to another. That worked so I’m hoping the other mats arrive so she can feel safe going down all the steps.
My street is quiet. Earlier I could hear machine noises. When I went to get the papers, I noticed the trucks. My neighbors are having their yards cleared. That screams spring to me.
When I was a kid, I loved the woods and the field below my house. The field was a square surrounded by woods on three sides. One wooded side led to the swamp. We’d follow a path which started where the field ended, and the swamp was just a short way. Another path led to the right and the water tower. The third side was just woods. In winter the field was brown. No grasshoppers jumped when we walked through the dead grass. That was summer. In winter the field was just a route to the swamp.
That field, those woods and the swamp are gone. Brick buildings with apartments for the elderly have taken their place. My grandmother lived in one building where the woods with no path once stood. We buried our turtle in those woods, under two trees we knew we’d remember. We never thought all of it would be gone. I used to think about that turtle when I’d go with my father to visit my grandmother. The entrance to my grandmother’s street was about where I’d buried my turtle expecting it would rest under those two trees for eternity. Even the trees are gone.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: elderly housing, fields, grasshoppers, memories, spring cleaning, sunny, Swamp, turtle, warm, wood path, woods
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
April 8, 2017 at 2:48 pm
We’ve had another rather nice day here, just as warm but feeling slightly cooler because of the wind. Tomorrow will be much the same but slightly cooler, I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t rain 🙂
I still have those antislip strips on my floor, I thought I just as well leave them there because sooner or later I’ll have an old dog again and they help me from slipping in the stairs too 🙂 To be honest, they sit so well that I’m not sure I actually can remove them 🙂
I was lucky to grow up by a big park (well mostly big forest to be honest) that no polititian ever would dare to touch so everything look very much the same. Never buried any animalsthere though, to be honest I don’t think I know where any of our pets went.
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 8, 2017 at 3:02 pm
Christer,
The sun has been replaced by clouds. I’ve shut the two doors as it is getting chilly. It does look like rain.
I didn’t buy strips but treads which cover the whole tops of the steps. They don’t adhere to the stairs which is good as the stair tops aren’t all that old. I was glad this morning when I could move them ahead step by step. Holding Gracie in the air by her halter so she wouldn’t fall killed my back. I hope the next shipment comes soon.
Have a great day!
April 8, 2017 at 4:24 pm
Four
The good guys scored 4 this morning, hammering Watford and staying second in the Premier League. At times the movement and thought were quite sublime
The good guys scored 4 this afternoon, cruising past the wannabes from the East Coast. The stadium was full, the air warm and it felt like spring
Fore
My Uncle Pauly is watching the Masters on BBC2, I have it on for a few minutes before heading down the Chapel in observance of Palm Sunday. Tonight I will be distracted by building a cross from the fronds which will sit next to an image of my late Mother for another year.
April 8, 2017 at 4:31 pm
My Dear Hedley,
Wow, 4 is quite impressive. I’m talking Tottenham here, not your boys of summer. My poor Red Sox.
I am not a golf fan.
I remember my mother used to keep the fronds behind a picture of Jesus she had. They would stay there for the year. Taking them down was dangerous. They could have sliced off a finger.
April 8, 2017 at 6:37 pm
It’s been spring here since the fourth of January when we had our last freeze. When I was a kid living in North Dallas our house was at the northern end of the housing development. I could ride my bike down a two lane country road through horse farms and small cattle ranches. It was all farmers going North until one reached the county seat of Denton County some 40 miles away. Today it’s just one huge development all the way to Denton. Someone must have spread building seeds along every highway.
Today was clear and windy with high 70s temperatures.
April 8, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Bob,
This was a warmer winter than usual, but there was frost. I was just glad I wasn’t working anymore as I always had to scrape the windows.
There are still pockets of old houses sitting on a field or next to a marsh, but the growth on the cape has been almost beyond belief.
It got cloudy and chilly here.
April 9, 2017 at 8:21 am
Hi Kat,
The turtle story was sad. Almost all my animals are buried out in the back. I don’t know where most of them are anymore but I can still see the graves of my old dog Tegan and my last cat Monster. It’s sad to think that when I leave here they will probably be dug up and turned into a patio or a condo.
Yesterday started out promising but the wind came up and it was biting. I cringed every time I had to go outside. Today looks better. I could be wrong, though. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
April 9, 2017 at 12:15 pm
Hi Caryn,
All my animals since I’ve lived in this house are also buried out in the backyard, 4 cats and 2 dogs. I always joke that they’ll call in the FBI as they think a budding serial killer lives here. They will stay there as I can’t think they’d be an addition to this house in that direction.
It was cold last night. I take Gracie out front in the dark, and I was cold standing there with her. Today does seem warmer.
Have a wonderful day!