It has been a week with no shortage of topics to blog about. I have always thought that half the work of writing was done in the head before fingers ever touch the keyboard or reach for the pen.
On Monday I thought about Presidents Day and the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's earth orbit.
On Fat Tuesday I thought about pancakes, colored beads, and the end to Mardi Gras, a holiday I have never celebrated.
On Ash Wednesday I thought about the Lenten countdown to Easter. And when I thought about it being George Washington's real birthday date, I started craving a cherry flavored dessert, but had to axe that idea.
By Thursday I was thinking that I really should have followed through with updating my blog. So I went in search of 'this date in history' and found that the siege of the Alamo began in 1836, the Tootsie Roll was introduced in 1896, the U.S. flag was raised on Iwo Jima in 1945, and the first school children received the Salk polio vaccine in 1954. Those events all seemed rather removed from life on this showery, windswept day. I will think of another topic.
It is Friday, February 24, 2012. I am celebrating the grape hyacinth that grows at the edge along the rabbit trail.
When I was a kid, we had grape hyacinths that were naturalized along the edge of our woods. I really believed that they were wildflowers; after all, in my memory they had always been there and always came back every year. It was the year that I was 12 that I learned their bulbs had first been planted on purpose. I actually felt a touch of betrayal in learning that they had been masquerading as natives all my life.
The grape hyacinth's flower spikes usually do not show up until mid-spring. Unlike the crocus and daffodils that would only tease that spring had come—it was not uncommon to see daffodils buried in snow—when the grape hyacinths bloomed, it was springtime for good. That is why I was so amazed to see them blooming now, with nearly a week of February left to go!
The picture was taken on my average iQphone. It looks Photoshopped for color, but it is not. As you can see, the grape hyacinth is blooming for all its worth.
Yes, it has been a mild winter. Yes, the jonquils began blooming a month ago, but really, that was barely three weeks ahead of an average year, surely unusual, but not unheard of. The grape hyacinths, by contrast, are nearly six weeks early. The bees are not out and about yet. Should I be worried about pollination?
25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? 26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?
Luke 12
No comments:
Post a Comment