The Down Side of Spring

Spring has sprung, as Daddy would say. It is lush and green and there are flowers everywhere.

Everything bloomed at once this year, and it is causing allergy trouble for people who usually do not have problems. I was doing fine with the flowers.

Then it rained. All the mildew that happens when it rains, attacks me personally. I can’t breathe as well, and I get bad headaches. I’m on day 3 with this one, and Excedrin doesn’t make a dent. Only sleep makes me feel better. At least it’s gorgeous outside, and there is no snow. Maybe no snow is worth a headache sometimes!

The Up Side of Spring

I planted rhubarb, little baby plantlets that were growing at the base of some big plants at my mom’s house. I did this last year and by mid-summer the new plant was doing better than the one that came with the house years ago. The plant I just put in is looking unhappy at this point. I remember that I have learned in the past to “water the stick.” Even when all the leaves fall off, or when I’m down to one single leaf, I water in the faith it’s not dead yet.

Let’s face it, those weeds we try to eliminate? If you strip them of leaves and take the stem to ground level, the root alone is enough for it to make a comeback.

One year we transplanted a peony. It got down to one very sad, drooping leaf and I watered it each day anyway. Now it’s almost hip-high 5 years later, with many blossoms just ready to pop. So I’m planning to treat that droopy rhubarb plant the same way and hope for the best.

The Best of the Up Side

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the first of two days of the East Lansing Art Festival. It’s the first summer-like event we have in these parts, each year. I will be sure to hear Jen Sygit perform, and Mystic Shake, Kitty Donohoe, Seth Bernard and Daisy May and other musical friends… as well as some acts I don’t know from out of town.

Usually it rains at some point during Art Fest weekend. This weekend it’s just a chance of rain but they are expecting chilly temperatures (in the mid-60’s F) and wind gusts up to 33 mph. One more time I’ll need to bundle up well. I do not tolerate cold well at all.

It is very good to have the Art Fair. It is very good to have the promise of summer. It’s not so good to have this headache… but this, too, shall pass.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 11:11 pmand is filed under Dance and Music, Lansing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.