Thursday, March 30, 2006

Fee-VAH!

Spring has definitely sprung here in the northeast. Although, in New England it doesn't so much spring as it does vault or bound... Or slap you in the face and say "Hey, Jackass, I'm here now. You can put your snow shovels away." Spring is much too gentle a word for the phenomenon that is this most fickle of seasons. One day you can be dressed head to toe in your best LL Bean outerwear made for subzero temperatures and the next you're pulling out your shorts from the bottom of the dresser drawer. This week, though not warm enough for me to feel the need to subject others to the whiteness of my legs, has been beautiful and I've been taking full advantage of it. Like most other people in my situation (stay at home Moms and the unemployed) I've been outside every day trying to work off the flab that has attached itself to my thighs and butt. If I don't do something about it soon the Borden's company is going to come calling. "Mrs. Chicky? Hi this is Bob from Borden's. Listen, we're running a little low on cottage cheese and we heard you had some to spare. Great! I'll send someone right over."

But I digress.

As a born and raised Massachusetts gal I am cautiously optimistic that Spring is, indeed, here to stay. I want to be hopeful about it, I really do. But as any dyed-in-the-wool New Englander will tell you - Wait 5 minutes, the weather will change. And then they'll remind you of the April Fool's Day snowstorm of '97. And people wonder why we're such a sullen bunch. If you lived with such crap weather all your life you'd be a bit of a pessimist too. That and the fact it took the Red Sox 86 years to win another World Series.

Since it is so gorgeous outside I'm going to try to be a little bit more optimistic about things. I even tried to document this change in attitude with pictures....




This is a crocus from my garden. I have no idea how it got there because I've never seen them in my yard before. And its growing dangerously close to the piles of dog poop that my neighbor's dog has thoughtfully left all over my side yard. See! Spring is full of happy accidents!


This is a branch from one of my lilac bushes. There are buds on it! It will bloom soon! And its really pretty when its all in flower. It has these wonderful white blossoms and a really delicate lilac scent which keeps my mother-in-law away for at least a month because she's horribly allergic!


Look closely... These are tiny lemon balm seedlings. They smell fantastic and I've heard you can make teas out of them. I guess this makes up for the fact that they're horribly invasive and have taken over one side of my yard, even though I pull the little suckers every year and have done everything short of burning them at their scented roots.


What is this? Is it... Yes! Its a weed! They're starting already. Soon I will be outside for hours, nay, Months(!) pulling these hardy little fellows out of the ground before they smother the beautiful plants that I've lovingly tended to. That is, until the heat of July takes over and I decide its much less work to just let nature take her course. There's always next year!

So, there you have it. A New Englander's optimistic view of Spring. Now if you don't mind I'm going to go outside and enjoy the sun because I think the weatherman just predicted snow flurries for next week.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

HOORAY FOR SPRING!!! FINALLY!!

Stacy said...

Enjoy it while it lasts! I know I am!

Anonymous said...

It has been lovely. But I'm not putting away my parka until I can wear flip-flops for an entire week.

ms blue said...

Laughing about your lilac method of mother in law control.

My husband planted mint in our yard and it too spreads like crazy.

Sandra said...

Hooray for spring.

Mom101 said...

How beautiful and wonderful. at the risk of sounding sappy, there's something so miraculous and awe-inspiring every year about those first little buds.

Separately, we will agree not to talk baseball.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics! I live in L.A., land of no seasons, so hearing everyone so wistful about the coming of spring makes me jealous that I have nothing to look forward to.

Oh, wait. There's always the re-rolling of the astroturf at the local miniature golf park...

Chaotic Mom said...

Bordens? Bordens! Please! Take mine! I have PLEEEEEENTY of cottage cheese! ;)

Chicky Chicky Baby said...

Liz - we will respectfully agree to disagree.

RH - I bought two new pairs of flip flops last week. They're sitting in my closet, taunting me.

Something Blue - We do what we have to do to keep some space between us and the MIL's.

Sweatpants Mom - I want to feel bad for you, but I don't. :)
The changing seasons are nice to have but most of the time I would rather have 78 degrees and sunny.

MrsFortune said...

Midwesterners feel the same way, I think. I'm remembering a huge snowstorm in MI on April 23 about three years ago. Gah! I'm not packing up the snowsuit just yet.

Heather Bea said...

I love the spring too. The chance to be outside gardening in the sun even if it is cold. I too do not look forward to the weeds but this weekend my mom came down to weed the yard for me. What a great lady.