(disclaimer. Right now the biggest problems facing any place on this planet are Japan, any place Near Japan, and Libya. This post is frivolous, but there are a happy plethora of sites out there related to ways to raise money and support for disaster relief. And, when you get tired of reading about updates on these situations, come on back to reading about, arguably, the ugliest spring on the planet ;-)
As I child, I got incredibly ticked-off reading the bucolic descriptions of spring, written by Mainly British OR Southern US poets. Clearly these people never ONCE tackled spring on the Iron Range. And, come to that, spring further south in Lakeville is pretty damned ugly too. North Dakota (either pre-or-post flooding) is probably pretty depressing in a similar way right now. Let me describe....
Grass - either dead-trout colored, or, perhaps, dog-sick green?
Trees - which eventually will bud a delightful pale green - but in the meantime, are two shades darker than sick or trout
Sky - hmm. Had been blue before, but it's cataract grey now.
Flowers - In 5-6 weeks, we'll have Pasque flowers, Crocus, and stunning wild violets in undisturbed, undergrowth-unimpaired natural areas. Considering the first day of spring is in 4 days, flowers get a fail too.
Birds - The winter blue jays finally had it - they disappeared almost two months ago. We might get some pretty goldfinches, if the hawks don't scare them off. We've a shiny red birdhouse, so maybe we'll work at making it more attractive in position for them. Birdfeeder is full, but all we are getting are....birds the same color as....
the grass
the trees
the mud.
I do love the fresh and no longer bitterly cold breeze - 47 f. is DELIGHTFUL.
And, we can crack the windows open a bit each day and let it in.
Right up until the farmers start fertilizing the fields.
Love spring wherever you are, and if anyone has some (ideally non-cheesy fake flower related) ways to brighten up some Very Drab Days, please leave a comment! Surely someone out there has WAY more cruddy spring time weather than we do - and I bet you're smarter at dealing with it, too!
Happy to be neither flooded nor freezing (but slightly concerned about the soggy-dog scent in the basement)
S.
As I child, I got incredibly ticked-off reading the bucolic descriptions of spring, written by Mainly British OR Southern US poets. Clearly these people never ONCE tackled spring on the Iron Range. And, come to that, spring further south in Lakeville is pretty damned ugly too. North Dakota (either pre-or-post flooding) is probably pretty depressing in a similar way right now. Let me describe....
Grass - either dead-trout colored, or, perhaps, dog-sick green?
Trees - which eventually will bud a delightful pale green - but in the meantime, are two shades darker than sick or trout
Sky - hmm. Had been blue before, but it's cataract grey now.
Flowers - In 5-6 weeks, we'll have Pasque flowers, Crocus, and stunning wild violets in undisturbed, undergrowth-unimpaired natural areas. Considering the first day of spring is in 4 days, flowers get a fail too.
Birds - The winter blue jays finally had it - they disappeared almost two months ago. We might get some pretty goldfinches, if the hawks don't scare them off. We've a shiny red birdhouse, so maybe we'll work at making it more attractive in position for them. Birdfeeder is full, but all we are getting are....birds the same color as....
the grass
the trees
the mud.
I do love the fresh and no longer bitterly cold breeze - 47 f. is DELIGHTFUL.
And, we can crack the windows open a bit each day and let it in.
Right up until the farmers start fertilizing the fields.
Love spring wherever you are, and if anyone has some (ideally non-cheesy fake flower related) ways to brighten up some Very Drab Days, please leave a comment! Surely someone out there has WAY more cruddy spring time weather than we do - and I bet you're smarter at dealing with it, too!
Happy to be neither flooded nor freezing (but slightly concerned about the soggy-dog scent in the basement)
S.
Steph's Ode to Spring:
ReplyDeleteThe grass
is covered in six months worth
of various staged decaying
dog poo.
The toys
left out even though I told the
kids to put them away six months ago
litter the yard
between piles of dog poo.
Someone left cigarette butts
in the flowerbed
over the winter
probably thinking since they threw it in the snow that was good enough.
Now I have to rake
butts and poo
while dodging toys.
Yay Spring!!!!
by Stephanie Becken