Ahhhh...Spring

I have learned that spring is arriving in our Village when the sounds of lawnmowers grumble through the air. Wintertime rarely brings the scrape of shovels against cement – the few inches of snow that fall 2 or 3 times a winter generally melt fairly rapidly. But the grass does go dormant and the warmer weather wakes it up.

My front yard daffodils have bloomed and finished. The low-growing little purple flowers by the big rock are over – don’t know what they are as I foolishly pitched the packaging after planting the brown, mushroom-y things. The backyard daffodils – the ones that bothered to bloom – are winding down. The purple flowers that look like miniature Dutch iris have come and gone. But the hyacinths are out in full glory and smell delicious. The full size Dutch iris sent up their leaves really early – or so it seems to me – and thus got treated to several of our snows. I have hope that they will bloom – last year they came on after all the other bulb flowers were long gone and were glorious to see. Mamie and I have started checking the nursery ads weekly for good deals – if it’s not on sale, we try not to buy it.

As an aside – in the fall of ’07 I purchased a number of bulbs but hadn’t gotten around to planting them before being hit by the dreaded ”C” word. Early on, I asked one of my wonderful doctors if I should bother to plant my spring bulbs. He replied, “But of course. You will be around to enjoy them for many years.” That was certainly an attitude adjusting moment for me. Mrs. Igor came over and helped GolfGuy prepare the area, and I managed to get the bulbs in the ground. Their flowers have truly been a joy to me last spring and this year.

As the air continues to warm, I anxiously await the annual parade of puffballs – Gambel’s Quail chicks – across the backyard to sample and scratch at the seed flung on the ground from the birdfeeder by the other birds. I make sure that I scatter extra seed as well, and I put out small saucers of water for them. The proud parents have a bit of struggle trying to keep them together as the little devils tend to scurry about in all directions. Like human chicks, they grow up much too quickly and leave the nest before we are ready to see them go.

It has been in my mind for several days now that it is about time to pack away the flannel jammie pants and haul out the light weight cotton ones. Oversize cotton tees for the top work well year round. The winter robe is about to be put away in favor of a lighter one. Soon I will switch the bedspreads and bath towels to the “summer ones.”

Flip flops and pedicures. When I start thinking about heading into the nail salon, I know warm weather is on us. My feet border on ugly, but a good spa pedicure makes me feel that they are basically presentable. I have a nice selection of flip flops that I live in from April/May to September. Altho, last year my physical therapist was NOT impressed with them – but he was kinda creepy and I was soon done with him so who cares what he thinks anyway.

Ah, spring IS definitely in the air and I am more than ready.