Busting Out All Over!

It literally seems like Nature is busting out all over.  Everything appears to be blooming.  This probably includes some people's allergies, too!  The trees are blossoming in innumerable shades of dark to light greens.  The maples are sporting red blossoms,  the dogwoods and tulip trees are on full display with their Spring flowers.  The daffodils, the hyacinths, the tulips, pansies, etc. are going crazy.  When you drive by plant nurseries, you are assaulted by a riot of color!

All the rhodedendrons are blooming, the weeping (and not weeping) cherry trees are showing off their delicate pinks.  The bushes of bridal wreath are showcasing masses of small white flowers.  Lawns fed appropriately by the many April rains are a deep, fresh green, and the dandelion population of the Northeast is making itself known.  

Not sure if Nature needed our Easter celebrations as a signal, but seemingly overnight, the blossoming exploded.  Throw in the relatively cool temps, the changeable weather, and voila!  Spring!  One of my favorite things is to see the scatterings of tiny flowers on the carpets of green grass.  They flourish with light pinks, purples, yellows, blues and white.  The flowers make the grass look as though someone purposely dusted the lawns with confectioner's sugar - the flowers so tiny and delicate. 

Yes, I sound positively dotty, don't I?  It's just all rather impressive when you take a minute or two, and really look around at all the blossoming going on.  'Course if you're in a city, there's a lot less greenery around to smack you in the face with their sudden flowers.  Have you noticed, though, that the air changes?  It feels softer and gentler.  With the changing light, longer days and gentle breezes, all you want to do is stay outside and wander around - or find the perfect sidewalk cafe and spend the evening there.   After this past winter of record snows, this Spring is very welcome.

There Was A Man

Yes. There was.  And he may be the reason for my long silence.  Tho', in retrospect, he also makes for a good story.  In the common yard area at the north end of my building, I have developed a small garden.  It's small out of necessity because the entire yard (I suspect) was used as the building material dumping ground when they built this place.  You cannot dig more than 2 inches before you are running into old concrete, strange rusted bits of metal, door fixtures and innumerable small rocks.  I discovered this personally whilst trying to make a garden. 

Over the past five years or so, I have dug out the "garbage" and replaced the sand, concrete, etc. with fertilized soil and various plants and flowers.  I now have a small patch of really healthy, dark soil with any number of worms.  (The latter a sign of soil health.)  And, as it's Spring, I've planted it with pansies.  Pansies can withstand the temperature variables of Spring weather, and their flowers are wonderfully colorful.  Recently, I squeezed in a couple of dwarf dahlias, and my daffodils have finally bloomed - so it all looks rather nice.

Well, last week, hearing a voice outside my window, I looked to see who it was.  (I don't get much traffic outside my windows.  I'm lucky.)  There, to my outraged eyes, I saw a strange man casually talking into his phone while simultaneously peeing on my pansies.  Boy, was I pissed!  There's a bunch of grass there, plus several trees - not to mention the side of the building.  Does he choose them? NO!  He chooses my wee garden, and pisses on my pansies! Well!

 I threw open the window and yelled, "WTF are you doing?"  The man ignored me, zipped up and walked away - all the time talking calmly on his cell phone.  He never once looked at me, or possibly even heard me.  Eeeeeee I was vexed.  Once I'd calmed down, and after telling a few folks, and starting to see the funny side - especially the alliteration - I told my sister.  She, who lives and gardens in a large metropolitan city, laughed and said......"Welcome to urban gardening!"   Who knew????

 

Who Is That Woman?

In the pursuit of employment, it is advised that one have a profile on LinkedIn, as it is the premier online connection for millions (if not billions) of people in the work-a-day world.  In addition to having one's professional information profile - which can be a bit of struggle to put together if your strength is being a generalist - it is recommended that one put up a photograph of oneself, too. 

Over the past several months I have enlisted various friends, at various times, to take my picture for this purpose.  They have all been fabulous at taking my picture.  The only problem is that their idea of how I need to look is wildly different, in some cases, than how I would like to look.  Then again, there is that small matter.  Really, it is insignificant.... That small matter in which I really don't see myself all the time, especially compared to what other's see.  So, when a picture is taken, they (all very discriminating people) usually find one or two that they feel shows "me."  The "me" that they know.  And there's the rub.

The "me" that they know, is not the "me" that I know. In fact, it has been rather a shock to see myself the way everyone else sees me.  (And digital high definition definitely takes getting used to! lol)  My image of "me" is quite different than the reality of what they see - as shown in the photos.  Also, I'm beginning to discover, that my image of "me" changes with the age and the personality of the person with whom I am spending time.  I forget me.  So, to see me as others do is rather suprising.

A very kind photographer whom I met at my last job, offered to take my photographs since I was despairing of my friends' results.  Yesterday, I went to visit Robert, and he shot a whole bunch of photos.  He has a marvelous way of making you relax and enjoy yourself - even whilst being immortalized by digital pixels.  The photographs are marvelous.  I just don't recognize the person in them!  That can't be me.  And, if it is me, when did I get that pronounced squint in one eye?????  It's not there today! That woman can't be me, can she?  

Two of the wonderful photos taken yesterday now grace my LinkedIn and Facebook pages.  They don't scare me - much.  So I'm really hoping they won't scare others.   I'm thinking I need to get to know this woman I haven't recognized.  She obviously has some stories I'd like to hear.

Lovely, Lovely Day

Spring can be so lovely.  Today, even though the wind was chilly in the shade, if you found a sheltered spot, you'd find that the April sun is truly so much warmer than the January one.  The sun, the blue sky and the bracing wind was just so beautiful.  

You can also tell that the season's changed by the return of droves of Canadian geese in the parks.  Yes, it was a snowy winter for us.  But one of the forgotten benefits of all that snow, is that the geese are forcibly reminded that they need to migrate for food.  Thus, for a brief time we can have a poop-free park! 

I am also very happy to have discovered that Spring has not ignored my little patch of ground outside my apartment.  For me, my patch of ground I can see outside my windows is "mine."  I've planted bulbs for the past several years and nothing's come up to my great disappointment.  (I suspect the local squirrels.) It's also on the north side of the building so its exposure to the Spring sun is limited.

Well, today, to my joy, I found two skinny shoots just peeking up out of the soil in my small garden, and a couple of shoots underneath the wee tree which was planted last June.  Yay!  Nature works!  I have no idea what's coming up, but I am looking forward to seeing what grows.  Woe betide to anyone or anything that threatens my shoots.  Why?  They're a reassurance to me, that new starts can happen, hopeful work can yield results, and even more, Spring is here and happening!  To borrow a phrase from Carly Simon "It's coming around again."   Lovely day.