Beyond Tardiness

Spring is still late. Mostly it's missing, perhaps playing hookie. I feel like a broken record. Seriously, more snow?? We had another 6" of cold white yuck last Thursday night. The highway was solid ice Friday morning. And there's more of that nastiness coming according to my cheerful mate who keeps checking the forecasts. My sympathies go out to everyone living in flood zones. At least we can hope that the majority of the grasshoppers eggs got washed away.

I did get out to my storage shed last week and retrieved the two window boxes. The lettuce seedlings were transferred to one of them. A few new seeds (black seeded Simpson) were added at one end. The transplants are still thriving. The box gets turned 180° every day to keep them growing upright. Parsley and sweet basil were planted in the other one, but I don't see any sprouts yet. I have several skinny onions coming, as well as a lot of tomato plants. Certainly there are more than I need.

My neighbor had gifted me a tiny baggie labeled white roses last fall. He'd commented that if anyone could coax them into growing, it would be me. So far I've failed to live up to his expectations. But I'm not giving up yet. I'd really love to get a few going. It would be wonderful to have his rose bush growing here to remind me of him. He was such a gentle soul.

As to my bird report, I can now say the meadowlarks have been in my yard. They occupied one of my Russian olives, with the neighboring tree hosting a flock of robins. The littler birds had been scarce as we've had a sparrow hawk terrorizing them. On Sunday morning that hawk flew straight into the dining room window on a kamikazi run. In true kamikazi fashion, he did himself in. We believe he's a migratory bird, and as such, it's illegal to have him or to collect his feathers. Therefore, his body remains where he crashed on the front deck.

I have brought in four of the bird feeders for the annual cleaning. I did put more seed into two of the feeders the birds had been frequenting. I'll bring those two in when I put the four back out. The nesting boxes also need to be cleaned out soon. That's next on my list. The goldfinches usually return around the first seven to 10 days of May. They don't use the nesting boxes, but the tree finches do, and they come back about that same time. I still hope to get bluebirds. They're the reason I bought the boxes.

Saturday afternoon we were treated to the noise of flocks of large birds high in the air as they return north. At first we thought they were geese, but after catching sight of their messy and chaotic flight patterns, decided they were sedges of sandhill cranes. A friend was checking info on cranes for her son, and found that groups of cranes are called sedges, not flocks. I'm told they're fine eating, but I'm used to them being a protected species down in Florida. Where our daughter lives, it's illegal to harass them and you'd better not let your dog chase them. They even have the right of way on the roads in her housing development.

As another sign that spring will arrive (soon, please), I have daylillies popping through the filthy ground. I've been trying to eradicate them from the south flowerbed and obviously failing. Don't get me wrong, I like them in the other beds where they're growing, but don't want them in that spot. But it's good to finally see some fresh green outside.