Seven in Seven

I had a post all ready on the beauty of spring.  But then the tragedy in Boulder, Colorado happened.

We've had seven mass shootings in seven days here in the United States.  In Boulder, a gunman walked into a supermarket about 2:30 pm Mountain time and killed 10 people, including the first police officer to respond.  This officer had switched careers just to become a police officer.

There was even a livestream on You Tube of the scene, which I have not viewed. The police officer was the father of seven and also leaves a grieving wife.

I have a Facebook friend with a son in Boulder.  He is safe.  I also work with a woman whose daughter lives in Boulder and I'll know in a few minutes if she is safe. She had moved there less than six months ago.  

Boulder is a city of about 100,000.  I was there once, years ago, on the way to somewhere else.  There was something special about Boulder then. 

We can wish this isn't happening but these shootings are.  Will we have the will to face our gun problems this time?  How many more times will a community face a mass shooting incident?  (Mine did, blocks from where I work, in 2009, and the anniversary is coming up in early April.)

All I can do is turn to my previous scheduled post.

Crocuses.  Some people measure spring by the position of the sun relative to the Earth.  Some measure spring by how sweetly the birds sing.  Some look for the first trees to bloom.  Me, I measure spring by the first crocus at my house.

 

True, crocuses have been in bloom in my area of upstate New York for several days now.  But my front yard is situated in a way that it doesn't warm up as rapidly as some.

 

Today was the big day.  Thanks to the pandemic, I am still working at home.  

 

At lunchtime I stepped out for a short walk and this is what greeted me.

 

Not only that, but after work, there was another one.

Spouse and I took a walk after my work day was over, and we saw this in another yard.

It's spring.  The robins were trying to tell me that, as were the cardinals, but the crocuses have made it official.

It's lovely.

It's marvelous.

Little things can bring such joy, even in a period of increasing tragedy.

I will get to those other posts before the Blogging from A to Z challenge begins, hopefully.  Speaking of which, I will be blogging about New York State daily, except Sundays, during the month of April.  I hope you will join me in this virtual journey.