“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”
Today is a dreary day, a damp, foggy day. Yesterday it rained, and everything is still wet. The forecast is for a warm day, a 60° day, and I’m hopeful. I did have a wonderful surprise, a spring surprise, when I went to get the papers. It drove the dreariness away. My hyacinths have bloomed. The garden has pink, purple and lilac flowers. This morning my garden is a delight.
My father always planted flowers in the small garden in front of the picture window by the front door. Usually they were pansies. They looked like a Disney cartoon, a musical with singing and dancing pansies. All the flowers have faces and are wearing bonnets. Their colors are bright yellow, purple, pink and blue. They have skinny legs. They have high pitched, squeaky voices and sing of spring.
Yesterday morning was busy. I had my uke lesson, went to the dump and shopped at Agway. Yesterday afternoon I took a nap. As for today, my dance card is empty.
I always think of winter as stubborn, resolute maybe, and quiet. Spring is loud. The mornings are filled with bird songs. Yards are being spring cleaned to the sounds of mowers and leaf blowers. They always start early in the morning. The kids down the street wake from their winter hibernation. They shoot baskets at the hoop in their front yard. I can hear the bounces of the basketball on the street and the kids’ voices when they score. The younger kids ride their bikes up and down the street. The drabness of winter disappears. The gardens scream color.
I love when I can open the windows to let the sweet spring air blow away the stale air of winter. The house smells clean and new.
When I shop this time of year, I always buy yellow dafs, the harbingers of spring. They brighten the kitchen and the den, the two rooms where I spend the most time.
Spring is sweatshirt weather. The jackets and fleece are put away for another year. Even on a coldish day I won’t go back to winter garb. Corduroy has had its season. I’m wearing sneakers instead of my winter Uggs. Yesterday it was my tie-dye Converse high tops.
This morning I’m wearing sandals and socks but in the house where only I can see them. I always think of socks with sandals as an odd combination. The socks are winter and the sandals are summer. The wearer should pick one or the other.
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April 6, 2023 at 7:00 pm
I planted a rose today I got cheap yesterday just as a sign of hope for spring, it’s still cold. I miss warm weather though I know I will complain when it’s too hot and dry again in summer. Today I saw a wild bunny in my garden, maybe I should look for hidden eggs on Sunday though it wasn’t an Easter hare. Public holiday tomorrow.
April 6, 2023 at 9:18 pm
Birgit,
It is still cold here too. Pansies are being sold at the plants store as they are so hardy. The gardening charts say May 31st is the last possible day of frost in this zone, but I usually plant before that. I don’t even remember frost at all in May. Good luck on your rose!
April 6, 2023 at 9:16 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was cloudy all day with a high temperature of only 59°. The breeze made it feel even colder.
Spring has sprung in my front yard with all the small shrubs along my sidewalk full of pink blooms. The flowers go from my driveway to the front door. The grass is just starting to come back and the trees are just budding. I even have a few blossoms of the state flower, the bluebonnet, sprouting in the front yard. They only bloom in April for a few short weeks. Late tonight there’s a forecast for more rain with a slight chance of severe weather continuing into tomorrow.
We are in the middle of Holy Week as well as Ramadan this year. What should be a time of peace and prayer from all three religions couldn’t possibly happen. Unfortunately, a Jewish fringe group decided to try to sacrifice a goat or lamb for Passover on the Temple Mount. All other Jews in the world don’t celebrate Passover that way since the Temple was destroyed over 2,000 years ago. Unfortunately for the fringe group, there’s an extremely important Muslim shrine, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located where the second temple stood.
In response to the lamb sacrificers Palestinians armed themselves with fireworks and other weapons inside to defend the mosque. Israeli police entered the mosque to clear out the armed mob and then attacked them. The videos went viral of Israeli police beating Muslims in the mosque. This of course gave Hamas, and other Muslim terrorists an excuse to launch rockets from both the Gaza Strip in the South and from Lebanon in the north into Israel. Fortunately, no Israelis were hurt. So much for ecumenical understanding. 🙁
Meanwhile, in another craziness, defendant Trump, now claims that he would have convinced his buddy, Vladimir Putin, to not invade Ukraine, if he was still president. Thankfully, that’s just a figment of his crazy imagination. I’m anxiously awaiting the three other indictments being considered by grand juries in Atlanta and in Washington D.C. The really sad part is that the Constitution doesn’t prohibit a convicted felon from running for or even serving as our President. 🙁
April 6, 2023 at 9:53 pm
Hi Bob,
Welcome to the 50’s as we were also in the high 50s today. We think it is warm for this early in April.
The only flowers blooming here are all the ones from bulbs. The trees are still stark. We won’t have buds on them for a while. My forsythia in the front garden is usually among the first to bud. My grass is still in winter mode. Rain here tonight too.
I remember Ramadan when I lived in Ghana. Where I lived was the region with the most Moslems (not Muslims back then) in Ghana. I remember the gun fire and festivities announcing the end of the month long fast as well as the giant feast which followed. Goats were the main meat at the meal.
The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians never ceases. Misconceptions and lies seem to come from both sides. The worst wars are always religious. I remember reading about the Indian Rebellion in 1857. The native companies believed that gunpowder cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat. That way both Hindu and Muslim religions were insulted.
Trump has been making that claim since Russia invaded Ukraine. Just a phone call is all he would have needed. He is delusional. I am also eager for the other indictments. According to him, the phone call to Georgia after the election was perfect. Him being found guilty would be perfect.
April 6, 2023 at 11:46 pm
Imagine Trump winning the Presidency in 2024 and serving in the highest office from a prison cell. Hopefully, he won’t win and imagine him in a state or federal prison while being protected by secret service agents. 🙂
April 7, 2023 at 12:18 am
They said on the news that he would probably receive house arrest if convicted as the logistics of the secret service in prison would be far too difficult to put into place.
James Michael Curley served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor and two terms in the US House of Representatives. He was really popular, especially with the Irish in Boston. He was also really corrupt. He faced felony indictments for bribery brought by federal prosecutors. The bribery occured during his time in Congress. Nonetheless, Curley’s popularity remained incredibly high even in the face of his indictment. While he was mayor, he was found guilty of mail fraud and sentenced to 6–18 months at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. Under pressure from the Massachusetts congressional delegation and in consideration of Curley’s poor health, President Truman commuted his sentence. The city clerk served as acting mayor while Curley was in jail. After his first day back in office, Curley told reporters, “I have accomplished more in one day than has been done in the five months of my absence.”
Sound familiar?