It’s May! These days of May, running on into June, are the loveliest of the year. Spring is advancing rapidly now. Everything is bursting with life. Almost overnight it seems, the trees and the lilac bushes have leafed out with tiny new leaves. The juneberry trees along the edges of the forest have erupted with soft white blossoms. The lawn is brilliant green and full of violets. Where there was a single spear of asparagus peeking from the ground in my garden last week, now there are dozens and it’s almost time to pick the first wonderful batch.
 |
| Juneberry tree blooming by the Genesee. |
I planted a lot of tulips last fall and have been anxiously waiting for them to bloom. May should be their glory days. But that won’t happen this year. Deer came into the yard and ate them all. Apparently deer love tulips. I wish I loved venison.
Out in the orchard the plum and pear trees, always the first to bloom, have flower buds almost ready to open. May is the month of fruit flowers, pear and plum and, best of all, apple blossoms.
Some of our loveliest songbirds have returned. We’ve had white-crowned sparrows and rose-breasted grosbeaks at the feeders all week. They both have beautiful songs. Some days there are as many as fifty goldfinches at the feeders. They sit in the crab apple tree where the feeders hang and it makes the tree look festive with their bright yellow plumage. I’ve seen and heard various warblers up in the tree tops. One evening last week I heard barred owls calling from the woods across the way. On Saturday a hawk caught and ate a robin in the front yard – sad for the robin, but hawks have to eat too.
Out in the orchard the plum and pear trees, always the first to bloom, have flower buds almost ready to open. May is the month of fruit flowers, pear and plum and, best of all, apple blossoms.
Some of our loveliest songbirds have returned. We’ve had white-crowned sparrows and rose-breasted grosbeaks at the feeders all week. They both have beautiful songs. Some days there are as many as fifty goldfinches at the feeders. They sit in the crab apple tree where the feeders hang and it makes the tree look festive with their bright yellow plumage. I’ve seen and heard various warblers up in the tree tops. One evening last week I heard barred owls calling from the woods across the way. On Saturday a hawk caught and ate a robin in the front yard – sad for the robin, but hawks have to eat too.
 |
| Rose-breasted grosbeak. |
 |
| Goldfinch in the crab apple tree. |
 |
| House finch. |
I mowed the lawn again on Monday. It may be the last time I mow with the power mower. I’ve bought a new push reel mower that I intend to use from now on. When I was little we had one and it was a heavy beast of a machine that I could hardly push. Things have changed since then – I’m bigger and heavier (too much so) and the mowers are smaller and lighter. This mower is lightweight and very easy to push. I’m hoping that using it will be good exercise for me and help me reduce a bit of that weight. Between the reel mower and my scythe, I should get a good workout this summer.
I always grow my beard out every year starting on the first day of fall and keep it on until the first day of spring. This spring, every time I contemplated shaving it off, we had a snowy relapse into winter. Well last week I decided to finally to do it. Thursday was haircut day and I thought that, as long as I was getting a haircut, I might as well shave too. I miss my beard. My face is cold. It will take some time getting used to not having it. But shaving was my way of showing my hope that we are done with snow at last.
I always grow my beard out every year starting on the first day of fall and keep it on until the first day of spring. This spring, every time I contemplated shaving it off, we had a snowy relapse into winter. Well last week I decided to finally to do it. Thursday was haircut day and I thought that, as long as I was getting a haircut, I might as well shave too. I miss my beard. My face is cold. It will take some time getting used to not having it. But shaving was my way of showing my hope that we are done with snow at last.
 |
| Before and after. |
Josiah and I spent most of the day Saturday working in the barn preparing the chick pen. We finally finished it. Working in the barn is dirty work. There’s a lot of dust, straw, and cobwebs, not to mention the chicken manure. We’ll get new chicks sometime this week and now we are ready for them.
 |
| Working in the barn. |
May is a month of nonstop birthdays and anniversaries in our family. Today would have been my grandmother Mable Jane Howe’s 123rd birthday. May 1st is also my niece Geri’s birthday. Other May birthdays are: my niece Emma on the 3rd, my sister-in-law Linda on the 4th, my brother Steve on the 5th, my brother-in-law Ted on the 7th, my nephew Steven on the 11th, my granddaughter Gwen on the 13th, my sister-in-law Roxann on the 14th, my wife Stacey on the 17th, my brother-in-law Jim on the 26th, and my father on the 27th. My parents will celebrate their 63rd anniversary on the 9th and Stacey and I will celebrate our 32nd on the 25th. That’s a lot of celebrating. If we lived closer to each other, we’d be partying all month.
Josiah is working on getting his mission application papers ready. He has most of them complete. Today he had an interview with our Branch President (Uncle Kurt) and on Tuesday he has an interview up in Palmyra with the Stake President. Soon after that we’ll be able to submit his papers and then comes the anxious wait to see where he’ll go. He won’t be 18 until July. We’re hoping he has his call before he graduates. It’s pretty exciting, but at the same time, I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.
It’s a bit chilly today. And rainy. We’re home from church and hungry. We decided to make the quickest lunch we can – meatloaf sandwiches and chips – a pretty good, simple Fast Sunday meal. It’s time to eat. Gotta go.
Josiah is working on getting his mission application papers ready. He has most of them complete. Today he had an interview with our Branch President (Uncle Kurt) and on Tuesday he has an interview up in Palmyra with the Stake President. Soon after that we’ll be able to submit his papers and then comes the anxious wait to see where he’ll go. He won’t be 18 until July. We’re hoping he has his call before he graduates. It’s pretty exciting, but at the same time, I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.
It’s a bit chilly today. And rainy. We’re home from church and hungry. We decided to make the quickest lunch we can – meatloaf sandwiches and chips – a pretty good, simple Fast Sunday meal. It’s time to eat. Gotta go.
 |
| Sunrise on Monday. |
