A Blooming Flower, March 7, Lansing!
Here she is:
There seem to be no affiliated leaves with this bloom, though there are myrtle groundcover leaves not too far away. Must be myrtle/periwinkle, though at this angle she sure looks like a tiny morning glory!
Most of the neighborhood is covered in snow. Around sidewalks and homes, there are areas thawing slowly. When I walk outside, there is a constant sound of water flowing into the drains.
Our south side yard seems to have a “microclimate” that I only saw three times on my walk. There are patches in a few yards where the whole thing is melted for some reason. It’s only on the middle of our side yard, where things are clearly warmer.
Five blocks away:
We are not done with winter yet. There are always at least a few flakes of snow in the air, in April. But a few melting days can make a woman feel tall again!
It has been about a week of sun/melting during the day and freezing at night. This is perfect. The mildew has not taken hold yet because of the frost at night.
Today I opened both the front door and the back. Our house is rather small and there is a straight line of airflow between the two. There are no bugs out yet, so even with no screen on the back door, I gave us fresh air inside. I’m delighted.
Does anyone remember the mid-70’s John Denver album “Rocky Mountain High?” I remember he had a “song cycle” about the seasons. There were four songs titled with our normal four seasons. Then there was a “tune…” no words, just mood… entitled “Late Winter/Early Spring.” I almost never connect with instrumentals, but this one captivated me and I would play it repeatedly.
Today, on my walk through my neighborhood, I had an inner soundtrack going, with Late Winter/Early Spring. Kids, dogs, bikes, basketballs… young couples, babies in strollers. Snow melting, water flowing into drains rather loudly. It is a good day in Lansing.
March 7th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Much of my early “good stuff” I learned on guitar was from the “Evening With John Denver” album and songbook my mom bought me one year. Christmas? Birthday? Can’t remember.
(What a drag it is getting old.)
Alas, I couldn’t hit the high notes now to save my life.
But I miss John Denver. He was always just a little flabbergasted that he was making all this money from something he purely *loved* to do. That love and joy was something that he could communicate to his audience and they’d give it back… and bingo! He was selling out large venues until the very end.
(Sorry to blather on about a side-note to your blog post, but you got me reminiscing.)
March 7th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I loved the creativity that that snowman/woman showed.
My John Denver song is Grandma’s Featherbed.
His Annie was from St. Peter, MN. Of course, Great Aunt Ethel knew her family.
March 8th, 2010 at 5:52 am
Very impatient flowers hurry to please you direct 8th March! We still have to wait long for flowers in the Latvia’s gardens. Snow thickness of us are around 56 cm …
Happy March 8!
Mirdza