On Monday I didn’t have to work and our friends, Glenn and Vicki Cunningham, were still here visiting and it was a gorgeous spring day. I spent most of the day outdoors. Glenn and I tilled part of the garden and planted onions, leeks, and peas. Then we went next door and helped Kurt plant his. I spent some time weeding flower beds.
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| Glenn tilling a row for peas. |
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| Glenn and Kurt planting Kurt's onions and peas. |
That evening for dinner we had a Mexican fiesta with tacos, burritos, and limeade made with things the Cunninghams brought for us – avocados, tortillas, and limes. Then, after Family Home Evening, we had ice cream sandwiches made from cookies and ice cream that Vicki made. That night as we were getting ready to go to bed, it began to rain. I went out on the porch to smell the rain and – there were peepers! Everyone went outside to listen to them. It was a perfect ending for the Cunningham’s visit to Gold. Tuesday morning the Cunninghams left, I went back to school, and everything went back to normal (read slightly depressing and a bit too quiet).
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| Saying good-bye to the Cunninghams. |
The rest of the week was the usual round of school, chores, and garden work. It feels so good to work in the yard again. I’ve been weeding, raking, planting – the things I’ve longed to do for so long. My hands are stained with soil again and I love it. The weather has been mild and the season is progressing rapidly. The crocuses are already gone. They came up in a hurry and left too soon. The glory-of-the snow (chionodoxa) are blooming now. Their little star-shaped flowers are one of the loveliest shades of blue of any flower I know. The little patch of squill in the long flowerbed is in bloom too with its pale blue flowers. The daffodils have buds and soon there will be violets in the lawn.
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| Glory-of-the-snow. |
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| Squill. |
I go out every day and inspect the orchard, not because I need to, but just because I can. It looks like I lost two trees this winter, a new pear tree I just planted last spring and my oldest plum tree, which hasn’t been doing well for several years. The other trees look good and I expect they will begin to bloom in about two weeks, if not sooner. The plums and pears will bloom first and then the apples.
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| The orchard soon to bloom. |
In addition to the peepers, which sing loudly every evening now, we’ve also seen other welcome signs of the season. On the banks along the roadsides, the coltsfoot is in bloom, the first of our spring wild flowers and a very welcome sight. The tree swallows arrived on Monday. There were three pairs fussing over the birdhouse in the hazel hedge, the place they nest every year. I only had the one house up so they began looking around for other places to nest. One pair selected the little wren house out on the grape arbor. It seems too small to me, but is apparently acceptable to them and to me too. The other pair began inspecting the beehive as a possible nesting site, which is not acceptable. I went out right away and plugged the holes to the hive (we’re getting bees at the end of the month). To alleviate the housing shortage, on Saturday Josiah and I put up two more houses in the yard, but so far they haven’t paid any attention to them. Tree swallows are lovely birds and voracious insect eaters and are always welcome in my yard.
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| Coltsfoot. |
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| A tree swallow on the power line. |
We also have a pair of evening grosbeaks visiting daily at our feeders. We don’t see them very often – this is the only third or fourth time in 15 years. I hope they stay and nest nearby. They are beautiful birds. Other birds are in a frenzy of courtship and nest building. The robins are staking out their nesting territories and there are frequent squabbles among the males. The grackles and red-winged blackbirds are also busy preparing to nest and the males are full of bravado, displaying and bickering with each other. The females don’t seem to pay them much attention despite all the fuss. The mourning doves are amorously chasing each other around. I think a pair is nesting in one of the spruce trees in the woodland garden.
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| A grackle displaying. |
On Friday Stacey and Josiah went up to Rochester so Josiah could visit the Rochester Institute of Technology. Josiah is just finishing his junior year, but he’s decided he wants to be an engineer and he’s already looking at schools. While they were there they bumped into our old neighbors, James Springer and his daughter Alex, who moved to Virginia ten years ago. Alex, who is the same age as Josiah, is thinking of going to RIT too. It’s a small world sometimes.
Yesterday I finally shaved off my winter beard. I thought I’d make a symbolic gesture of my hope that we’re done with winter at last. My face will feel cold and naked for a few days. Josiah and I also got haircuts in the afternoon.
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| Before and after. |
This week there will be lots of excitement here and it all comes at once. This Saturday afternoon is Josiah’s Eagle Court of Honor. That evening is the Junior Prom. Josiah isn’t taking a date, but is going with a group of friends. Afterward they are coming here for a post-prom party. And to make things even better, Sarah and Tosh will be here for the weekend!
Today is another mild, beautiful spring day. As we drove home from church, I noticed the forests on the hillsides are starting to color red and green as the trees prepare to bloom and leaf out. Josiah says he wants to take a walk this afternoon. After lunch and a short nap I think we’ll head up to the hollow and into the woods.
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| One of several beautiful sunrises we had last week. |
