Spring Things - Rapidly White

Ah, the freshness of spring.

Foliage is clean, fresh, coming out in many shades of green.  Spring exploded this month in the northeast.  There are so many colors to choose from.

I devote Wednesdays on my blog to the season we are in here in upstate New York.

Today, I decided to pick a color to represent this week of spring.  With viburnums and spireas in full bloom, I decided on white.

Viburnums blooming at the Broome County Pubic Library, Binghamton, on May 18.

White lilacs blooming near my home in Westover, near Johnson City, New York,on May 16.

Spirea, west side of Binghamton, May 18.

Lamium album, or white dead nettle, May 19, Binghamton, New York.

White trees in bloom yesterday in downtown Binghamton.

This spring has passed so quickly.  There are flowers I barely saw before they were gone.  Yesterday, a cold front cooled us down.  I hope spring will slow down briefly, so I can enjoy these blooms for a few days.

What is your favorite color of flower?  Perhaps I will feature that color in my next Spring Things.

The Mistaken Invitation

I wasn't surprised when I opened my mailbox yesterday, and the letter was there.

I knew what was in the envelope before I opened it, because I've gotten that letter at this time every year for the past few years.

It begins:

"You are invited!
(date in June)
to Celebrate a World with...."

I am happy to report that, once again, I am not eligible to attend.  The rest of the invite reads:

"..to Celebrate a World with Less Cancer and More Birthdays".  Why wouldn't I want to attend?

But first, I need to back up a little.

For several years, I participated in the American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life, when my employer had a team. The Relay is a walk where you participate as a team.  One person must be on the track at all times, for about 18 consecutive hours, so many team members (I never did) camp out on the track.  There are giveaways, entertainment, and a lot of high school and college students have a good time as they try to stay awake all night.  They cook dinner - coffee is provided - and breakfast.

 Of course, as a team member, you are expected to fundraise for the ACS.  I would usually donate an afghan to our team to raffle, too.

Many people in my life have been impacted by cancer.  Three of my friends (the first one when I was 13) have died from cancer.  Several others are survivors.  Two dear friends are currently under treatment.

When you register for the Relay for Life, you indicate if you are a cancer survivor or not.  Survivors get a participating T-Shirt of a different color than people who have never been diagnosed.  I always registered as a person who has not had cancer.  I have never received a cancer diagnosis.

I was been a caregiver for someone with cancer, but it wasn't for a long period of time, and that person is no longer in active treatment.  One day, that person may be living up here, and I will pass the invite on to her.

Survivors of cancer are invited to attend a free dinner at the Relay, where they are honored.  A caregiver of their choice can also attend at no charge.

Somehow, I am on the ACS's list as a cancer survivor.  For over five years, I've been getting this invitation letter, long before someone I am a long distance caregiver for received a cancer diagnosis.  I've sometimes passed the letter along (the invite is not personalized) to a local cancer survivor in my life, and I will do the same this year.  And, I suppose, I could contact our ACS chapter and ask them to take my name off their survivors list.  But I'm not going to.

In a way, this invitation reminds me of how fortunate I am to not be able to attend this dinner.  I am grateful for their mistake.

What are you grateful for today?

Thoughts of Failing a Falling Class

Back in mid-March, I called a number published in our county's Senior News.  A woman answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi", I responded. " I am calling about the Stepping On Falls Prevention Class."

We chatted a couple of minutes.  She wanted to know where I had heard about the class. She talked briefly about the program - seven weeks, one class a week, a falling assessment on the first and last classes, guest speakers. They would teach exercises to help prevent falls, and would have several guest speakers talking about medication and balance, eyesight issues, and more.  The cost was reasonable - $35 for seven sessions, and I would get a workbook, too.

Then came the question.

"How old are you?"

The class was advertised for seniors 60 and over.

"62", I responded.

There was a pause at the other end - a pause that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Have you fallen yet?", she finally asked.

(For more on my interest in this class, check out this post).

Fast forward a week.

Just before St. Patrick's Day, an in law's mother in law fell in the bathtub and hit her head. It was not her first fall.  This 82 year old woman, who was living independently with her husband of many years, was rushed to the ER later that day with symptoms of a head injury.  Things did not go well from there.

The CDC has some sobering statistics about falling in older adults.  And now, this in law's mother in law is just that - a statistic.

Governments and agencies serving senior populations are recognizing the problem, and trying to take steps.  You don't have to be a senior to care about the issue.  The children and grandchildren of the woman who fell are not seniors.  This has impacted an entire family, a large, close knit family.

So, about the question "have you fallen?"

I told the woman yes, that I have fallen.  I've fallen in my house twice in the past year, in addition to a fall while exercising on the Vestal Rail Trail (this one due to a trick ankle from an old injury) and another walk with a fall in 2011.  The trick ankle didn't cause the home fall, though.  It was a balance problem.  I fell due to a throw rug that slid when I stepped on it.  And still another time, a shoe gripped the floor in the wrong way and I started to fall, but managed to recover.

I have problems with my balance. My spouse took me to work several times this winter because it was icy and I was frightened of falling. If I wear ice treads that are sold to slip onto boots, I feel like I'm totally unbalanced. I don't know if my near falls were caused by medication (I am on several) but I have to do something now.  I don't want to wait until I'm 82 and it's too late.

What I am concerned about the most, though, is that I am going to show up, and be in a class of 80 year olds.  Then, everyone will look at me and think "why is she here?"  Dare I call this reverse ageism, that I am not old enough to have any of the problems of a senior citizen?

In other words, is it possible in our elder society to be too young?

The first class is this Wednesday, and then I will know.

Have you taken any of these fall prevention classes?  Am I right or wrong to feel self conscious about my attendance?

Civil War Sunday - True Children

I call them living wormholes - they are a direct link to our past.  (This term, incidentally, is not original to me.)  If you don't like that term, just consider them as living treasures.

I've blogged about some of these treasured people - for example, my husband's aunt, who is now 103 years old.  She was born three months before the Titanic sank.  Through her memories (and she is still fully with us mentally) we are linked to our past.

Another example is Harrison Tyler, a grandson of President John Tyler.  President Tyler was born in 1790.  As of February, 2015, this grandson was still alive and still living on the family homestead.

These people are vitally important to our society, in my view.  History is not something dead in a book.  It is the story of you, me, and people who were born before us.  When they pass, memories are lost forever.

Now, I have become aware of another living wormhole (or treasure, if you will):  Nellie Appling Wylie, of Mt. Airy, North Carolina.  You may be familiar with Mt. Airy if you ever watched The Andy Griffith Show.  Mt. Airy was where Andy Griffith grew up, and Mayberry was based on the Mt. Airy of his childhood.

Ms. Wylie just turned 100.  Her father fought in the Civil War, which was fought 150 years ago.  How could that be?

Her father was born in April of 1848.  He was 19 when the war ended in 1865.  She was his last child, born when he was 67 years old.  He died in 1937.

Watch the remarkable interview with this treasured woman. Her children are all deceased, but her grandchildren work to preserve her memories.

To think I may have walked in her footsteps in the several times I've visited Mt. Airy thrills me.

She is what historians call "true children" of our Civil War.  To them, the Civil War is not some set of dead facts in a boring textbook.  It was part of stories told them in their childhood.  They knew, and loved, those veterans of the war.  And it is good to know they were given places of honor at sesquicentennial commemorations of the war.

There are not too many "true children" of the United States Civil War left.  There are, perhaps, 35 (or fewer), most in their 90's or 100's.

By the time we reach the 175th anniversary of the 1861 start of the war, they will all be gone.

Do you have a treasured relative or family friend who is a link to history?

Local Saturday - The Community Gardening Hour

It's been a while since I've blogged about our plots at the Community Garden in Otsiningo Park, just to the north of Binghamton, New York.

What is a community garden, anyway? 

It's simple: "Any piece of land gardened by a group of people."

We rent plots by the season from an association. We are given a marked out plot, and the right to garden on it, and access to water.  We also get our plots plowed in the spring.  We can't begin until early May (late even for our climate) and must be out by the end of October.

 Our gardening must be done by various rules.  The hope was to have the gardens fully organic by now, but I believe that has been put on hold. We are also allowed to keep our own plots year after year if we register before a certain date.  We've had one gardening neighbor, a skilled gardener, for many years.  He is an immigrant from Asia, and I am amazed at the work he puts into his plot.

We came close to not having a community garden this year but, at least for now, we are here.  The garden was supposed to be taken for parking for a new year round farmers market, but the farmers market is going to have to be built elsewhere.  Win one, lose one.

So, we are here with two garden plots for this year.

And, what is "here"?

"Here" are volunteer sunflower seedlings. We could practically start a commercial sunflower business, if it was permitted.  Something eats sunflowers at our house.  At our community garden, we don't even have to plant them.

"Here" are something that looks like weeds but they aren't. This past week, spouse (who does about 95% of the gardening work) has put in onion plants.  Our garden is perfect for onions. Hopefully we will have another bumper crop this year.

Another bumper crop we grow is rocks, and if anyone needs rocks or stones, please email me and I'll tell you where our plot is.

Today, spouse turned soil over, raked it out, removed the bigger rocks, smoothed it, and created raised beds.

Meantime, the gardening neighbor drove up, parked, and came over offering a number of lettuce seedlings.  He starts his own, and, sometimes, shares with us.  This year we will enjoy his bounty of lettuce.

We both planted the lettuce.

Do you want to learn more about our community garden?  Feel free to comment below.  If there is any related gardening topic you want to learn more about, I'll be happy to share our knowledge from almost forty years of gardening.

Gardening can be frustrating and sweaty but it can also be so rewarding.  If you don't have a plot of land, community gardening may be your answer. 

Do you garden?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2015-Fast & Furious

I never imagined May would be like this.

As winter ended, I was down to ransacking my house for something - anything, that was blooming, just to save myself from blogging shame.  I dreamed for May to please come.  I would finally have outdoor flowers.  I would be able to fill my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post with daffodils and tulips and all sorts of spring flowers.

Or would I?  Well, like all gardeners in the Northeast, we don't quite know what hit us in the last 10 days or so.  Welcome to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens in Indiana.

We had a late April snowfall here in the Binghamton area of upstate New York (zone 5b).  Then, the temperature suddenly rose into the 80's.  Instead of spring flowers blooming in an organized manner, spring was kicked in the rear end and ran down the street, shedding flowers as she passed.  Last Friday, I saw a forsythia blooming side by side with an early lilac.  The Bradford pears came and went in a flash. The crabapples went by in an even shorter flash.

I took pictures of Bradfords on May 5. Magnolias in full bloom on May 6. Crabapples on May 7. A chokecherry on May 8.  Some lilacs in full bloom by May 12.   I took pictures of dogwoods in bloom yesterday.  I have buds on my bearded irises.  Main season azalea blooms are opening in neighborhoods.

Then, suddenly, we were under a frost advisory yesterday morning.  We did escape a frost, and, right now, it is 45 degrees.  (7.2 Celsius).

So, what am I left with on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day after Fast and Furious spring? Actually, plenty.  Not just what I thought I would be showing you.

Like lilacs.  On May 15.  A vase full of lilacs is perfuming my living room as I blog.

But there are more "normal" things blooming in my garden, too.

Brunneria.

Variegated euphorbia.

Dead nettle.

Primrose (these are red, but somehow came out violet.)

Pansies and violas

Then, there are my hanging baskets.  I'm only showing you a couple - perhaps I'll show you some more next GBBD.

Begonia.  I got this one on clearance at Aldi for $3.99.  I couldn't resist saving it from the garbage heap just because it had some brown leaves.

Daffodils? In a sheltered location, the last of my late daffodils barely made it to GBBD.

Another euphorbia.

Finally, a large pot full of geraniums.  I love these fancy leaved geraniums.

Before you go off to see what else is blooming all over the world, ponder what Carol at May Dreams Gardens has to say about May:

"All year I dream of the days of May when the sun is warm, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the garden is all new again!"

What's blooming for you today?

One Last Time

Today, everyone in the northeast United States must be wondering what happened to spring.

Just as spring got going, so did our temperatures.  In the sudden heat, spring kicked into high gear.

We went from crocuses on April 7 to snow on April 24, and then it was back to spring.

West side of Binghamton

We went from anemones on April 28

to late blooming daffodils on May 7....

...to Bradford pears, which lasted about four days and then - poof! the flowers were gone.  Same for the crabapples that line my street.

My irises have buds.  My lilacs are in full bloom. (Hopefully they will last long enough for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day tomorrow.

And now, this morning, we are under a frost advisory.  Parts of our area are flirting with frost producing temperatures.  Our tender plants are under cover this morning.

You have to understand winter withdrawal.  After month after month of snow, everything was blooming at once.  Last Friday, I came close to taking a picture of a forsythia blooming next to an early lilac, but my iPhone was too full of photos.  You would have to be a flower gardener to understand that forsythias and lilacs don't usually bloom together - at least, they don't here in upstate New York.

The golden rays of sun and the warm temperatures make you want to dance, and to forget there was ever such a thing as below zero temperatures.

Now, cold weather says "one last time!"  This teaches us that nothing in life is permanent. (And, that you shouldn't plant your tomatoes too early - which we didn't.)

How is your weather?

Spring Things -Yogi

I delayed the beginning of my Spring Things Wednesday feature because of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  I was all ready to post some flower pictures until I found out, too late for yesterday's post, that Yogi Berra had turned 90 yesterday.

Yogi Berra was a major league baseball player back when I was growing up. But he is best known for his kindness, and for what are called "Yogi-isms", expressions that don't seem to make sense - until you really think about them, and then you realize they are profound in a strange sort of way.

But first, a little about Yogi the man.  Lawrence Berra grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of poor Italian immigrant parents.  He had to quit school in 8th grade to help his family, and always regretted not being able to complete his education.  He served during World War II, fighting on D-Day.  When his team, the New York Yankees, wanted to honor him in 1959, he asked that a scholarship for disadvantaged students be established.  It was.

He has done many things for disadvantaged children and teens.

I remember him when he still played baseball (he was a catcher) but later he became a manager.  I was in attendance with my then-fiance at game three of the 1973 National League playoffs.  Yogi (who was the manager of the New York Mets at the time) was one of several members of the Mets who went out to calm down fans after a fight broke out on the field.  The fans were so enraged over the incident that their behavior almost caused the Mets to forfeit the game, but Yogi and the others managed to restore peace.  (I suspect that afternoon was one of the highlights of my spouse's life.)

Now, at 90, Yogi lives in assisted living.  The past few years have not been kind to him, and he may not be able to make this year's Yankee Old Timer's game.

Now, for some Yogi-isms.
"You can observe a lot by watching."
"Nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded."
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
"If the people don't want to come out to the park, nobody is going to stop them."
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours."

And, possibly the favorite one:  "It's deja vu all over again."

This is the first time I've had a Spring Thing about a person.  Some call baseball players "the boys of summer", and our spring weather, the last few days, has been summer like.  So perhaps it is appropriate to write about a boy of summer after all.

Happy belated birthday, Yogi.  You are a national treasure.

Update on Yesterday's Post

Thank you to my readers who expressed concern about a transformer fire at a nuclear power plant about 16 miles from where I was visiting in laws on Saturday night, and their safety.

The power plant, Indian Point, provides power to millions of people in New York City and Westchester County, a county just to the north of New York City.

I want to assure everyone that the power plant did not explode.  A transformer (a device that takes electricity manufactured by the plant and converts it to a level usable by the public)  failed and caught on fire.  The fire was extinguished but reunited, was extinguished again, and chemicals from the fire were released into the Hudson River. Now, there are pollution concerns.

There was no release of radiation, according to authorities, but, again, there are concerns about the release of this fluid into the Hudson River.  Also, according to authorities, there have been other incidents.

Quoting from the New York Times: 

"Mr. Cuomo [NY's governor] said there had been too many emergencies recently involving Indian Point. Unit 3 was shut down Thursday morning for an unrelated issue — a water leak on the nonnuclear side of the plant.

“We have to get to the bottom of this,” the governor said."

In the meantime, the plant remains offline.

If there had been an incident Saturday night, we would have been there to help evacuate my mother in law and developmentally disabled brother in law.  But we wouldn't even have known the evacuation route to use.  Would there have been buses available?  My mother in law no longer drives at night.

Just another aspect of long distance caregiving.

Just Another Day

This weekend, I visited my mother in law with my spouse and son in an area North of New York City.  We wanted to spend Mother's Day with her. 

Tired, my mother in law went to bed early Saturday, and I turned on my computer.  Trending on Facebook was a news item. It got my attention quickly.

A transformer at a nuclear power plant had exploded about 6 pm.

The Governor of New York was giving a news conference.

At first, we were told all was well - well, sort of.  There had been a fire.  But the reactor had shut down safely, as it was designed to do.

My mother in law lives about 16 miles from that nuclear power plant, which is called Indian Point.  On the highway, near her exit, is a sign announcing an evacuation route.  We passed it Saturday without much thought.

Now, the public is being told that runoff from fighting the fire may have entered the Hudson River.

Indian Point is about fifty miles north of New York City, and the Hudson empties into the ocean at New York City.  This is not news welcome to anyone living along the Hudson, including the eight million odd people living in New York City.

I had a nightmare thought about what would happen if my mother in law and my developmentally disabled brother in law did have to be evacuated.  It could happen, but, more realistically (I think) it would be due to weather than due to nuclear disaster. Yet, living some 150 miles from them, it has worried us for years.  In a snowstorm, for example, it might be difficult to reach them as we have to pass through the Catskill Mountains.


A potential nuclear disaster 16 miles from family?  Just another day in the life of a long distance caregiver.

The Best Revenge

Today is Mother's Day in the United States.

I hope you had a mother, a mother in law, or a special "mother-someone" to spend the day with.  

I had to travel this weekend, and on the way back, my spouse, son and I drove through Delaware County in New York State.  I had been thinking a lot about my childhood recently, and memories immediately flooded my mind.

When World War II came, the life of a woman living in Germany would change forever, along with those of millions of other people.  After surviving the Holocaust, she moved to the United States, married another Holocaust survivor and had three children with him.  One of those children became a very good friend.  Their marriage would last 57 years.

The best revenge, sometimes, is survival, and making a difference in the lives of the next generations. 

The 70th anniversary of the death of the man who set these events in motion passed last month. He died in secret, taking his own life.  In contrast, when this woman died several years ago, she was 94 years old, and left three children , six grandchildren, and a remarkable legacy.

Her obituary said in part: "She will be missed terribly and although her own feet were very small, she leaves behind shoes so large, they are impossible to fill."

Obituaries don't begin to tell a story. In her life's story, besides her family, was a 13 year old girl whose mother had recently died.  This girl probably drove her crazy in some ways, but the girl was always welcome in her home. She taught the girl to do some household tasks.  She gave love and attention.   

Later, as an older teenager, she invited me to her father's home in Delaware County.  It was in a rural location, on an unpaved road.  They were the last house on the road with electricity.

There, this girl who grew up in the Bronx walked through her first garden ever.  She got sick from eating raw, fresh peas, because she didn't know any better.  Then she got sick off their fresh blueberries, because they were so good she couldn't stop eating them. But amazingly, she got invited back for a week the following summer.

Yes, you've guessed it.  That girl was me.


I had several substitute mothers in my life after my mother's sudden death.  My father, who raised me.  The woman I am blogging about today.   And, in some ways, my friend, her daughter.  She has been a good friend to many.

My friend, as I blog this, is seriously ill. This is a hard time for her family.


Mothers aren't only the people who birth us.  I hope that, if you have such a person in your life - either male or female, who was a mother to you - that you think of them today.  If they are alive, I hope you called, texted, or emailed them, or thought of them.

My son, whose basket is pictured above, only met this woman twice, and probably has no memories of her.  But, in my mother in law's house, hangs a picture of my son taken at the home of this remarkable woman.

Without her, my life would have been different, and probably poorer.

Do you have a special someone whom you would wish a Happy Mothers Day?

My 2000th Post!

Welcome, my dear fans and readers, to the 2000th post party at Ramblin' with AM!  It's been an exciting journey these past six years since I started this blog in April of 2009.

Yesterday, I had asked my readers to tell me what they would like to read about in my 2000th post. I incorporated two responses in this post and I'll use the others in future posts.  Thank you, commenters!

So, here's a little mini-interview with myself.

Let's start with Kimberly, who asks me to describe what I consider the "most surprising thing about your blogging journey." 

I am tempted to respond "I'm surprised that I'm still doing it six years later" but I must explain further.  What surprises me the most about my blogging journey is that, after a two year start up period of blogging to an Internet full of crickets, I found the world of blogging communities and blogging challenges.  This was thanks to a writer and blogger who happened to be dating one of my cousins (well, it was more complicated than that).  Thanks to Billie, I joined a daily blogging challenge just hours before its registration ended, struggled and completed it, and then kept posting daily because I wanted to.   I still am posting daily.

Librarian Katy Manck asks "How about favorite food or flower for the biggie? Something that you could enjoy 2000 times in your life!"
 
Well, Katy, that would be most flowers. I could not imagine a life without flowers.  But let me pick out several as my favorites.  I could enjoy all of these 2,000 times.

The lilac, because it smells so sweet, and is with us for only a few days each year. Its scent reminds me of Lilacs and Roses, an old brand of talcum powder my Mom (who died in 1965) loved.

The day lily, because they are so indestructible, and come in so many varieties.

Basket pansies, 2015

The pansy, because I love those little faces.

Weren't mine.  I think this was taken in 2013

And the zinnia, because they make such wonderful cut flowers, and they are so easy to grow here.

Finally, the food I could enjoy for the next 2000 days?  Guacamole.

Again, thank you again for taking this blogging journey with me.  I hope you will stick around for the next 2,000 posts.

What are you going to do this weekend?

Partying Like It's Post #1999

On Saturday I am going to hit a blogging milestone - post number 2000.

Which means that this post is #1999.

That's a lot of blogging since April of 2009, when I first started my blog.

Some people would celebrate with a giveaway.  I am going to indulge in a little nostalgia.

Blogging has been an unexpected journey.  I never would have imagined, when I started, that one day I would have readers in Nebraska, in Florida, in Texas, in Michigan, in Kansas.  Internationally, I have readers in Canada, in India, in the United Kingdom, in France.

I am 62 years ago.  The Internet was just a science fiction dream when I was born.  The world has changed tremendously.

I have met (cyber-met, if you will) many interesting people.  I even got to meet one of them in person, in Charleston, South Carolina several years ago. 

Today, on post #1999, I want to thank each and every one of you.  You have enriched my life.

So, for my 2000th post tomorrow, is there anything you would like to see?  More pictures of spring at my home in upstate New York?  A Local Saturday post?  A post about mothers? A rerun of a post from my past 1,999 posts?

Let me know by 9pm tonight, Eastern Time, and I'll see what I can do.

I will leave you with a flower picture.  I took this yesterday in my front yard.

And now, let's party!

May you have a wonderful day and I hope to hear from you about what you want for my 2,000th post.

Tulipmania

Can you imagine, between 1624 and 1637, that something we moderns call "tulipmania" swept the Netherlands.  Fortunes were made and lost using tulip bulbs as investments.

It is estimated that, at the peak of tulipmania, an average tulip bulb cost more than what a typical skilled tradesman made in an entire year.

Then, the bubble burst, and we were left with tulips for beauty instead of tulips as financial instruments.Fortunately, we don't have to go bankrupt to own a tulip - we just need to own a small piece of land, and live in an appropriate climate.  And, can keep the squirrels or some other animals from eating them.

If you look at some of these tulip pictures, imagine each of these flowers costing a fortune.  These pictures were all taken this past week - some yesterday.

Red.

Orange.

Tulips I posted yesterday, and I am going to post again, because I love them so much.

Pink and white tulips (bottom of photo - daffodils on top).

Let's see, at $48,000 each, we would have a lot of rich gardeners out there.

Tulip flowers - priceless.

What is your favorite flower?

Spring Things - All or Nothing

April 5, 2015:  snow, here in upstate New York.
(No, I refuse to post any more pictures of snow until next winter.)

 May 5, 2015:  It's a late spring, and Nature is doing whatever it can to catch up.  Combined with warm weather the last few days, watching Spring unfold is more like watching a quick action film.  You know, one of those films where they film a flower once or twice a day over several days, and then you watch the flower bud and unfold in a matter of seconds.

Instead of a progression of flowers, Nature is throwing everything at us, all at once.  Not that, after our harsh winter, I am complaining.

Oh no.  Not at all.  Spring, bring it on.

All of these pictures were taken yesterday on the West Side of Binghamton, New York.

Magnolia.

Violets.

Redbud with creeping phlox.

Tulips. (I assure you, this vibrant photo was not photoshopped.)

Finally, the first of the rhododendrons.

I am grateful for today, and for the opportunity to bring some of Nature's beauty to your computer.

Is anything blooming where you live?

Punner's Holiday

May 4th:  May the Fourth be With You.

May 5th   The Sinko De Mayo (old, bad joke about the Titanic having a secret cargo.  No, I won't spoil it for you.)

Two punner's holidays in a row.

Another one from earlier this year:  Pi Day (March 14).

Puns.  You hate them or you hate them.  We wince, we boo, and then we come back for more.

It isn't just us.   Humans all over the world enjoy word play. Too bad puns in one language don't usually translate well into other languages.

Except, maybe the Chinese.  Is it true that China has banned word play?

Seriously, I am married to a spouse who loves puns.  My guest photographer friend is an expert punner.  One of my cousins, an electrical engineer, loves punning.  People all around me, it seems, pun circles around me.    But, for some reason, my mind can not create them. 

All I can do is appreciate the puns.  I found this website with some good ones.

One more for you.  The PUN-isher.

I wish I could write puns.

Do you?

Reflections from A to Z as Spring Awaits

My faithful readers are used to me joining blogging chllenges  But never has a challenge asked me to reflect on my experience - until now.

Spring is awaiting me - tapping its foot impatiently - so I will keep this short.

I had heard of the A to Z Challenge three years ago - and, for the first two years, I had all kinds of excuses not to join in the fun.  Vacation.  Planting a garden. But this year, I did it.

I survived it and I learned from it.  I picked up several new followers, and I hope those who enjoyed my posts on the theme "America the Beautiful" enjoy my regular content, too.

These, as an experienced daily blogger, are my takeaways.

1.  This is a big challenge, and there is something for everyone.  If you don't find several new blogs you like, you haven't read too many.
2.  At the same time, I am going to miss some of the themes.  I'm not the only blogger who modified her normal blog posts, and I am going to miss some of the other themes.  A sometimes (well, many times) off-color sendup of Martha Stewart.   The Roaring Twenties.  Vintage cookbooks.  Memories of a Texas childhood.  Travel photos that have inspired me to, perhaps, get back on a plane one day. 

There were a couple of more blogs I enjoyed - I will need to hunt down their links.

I will miss their themes, but I am also eager to see what they do the rest of the year. I hope to be able to blog daily (which I have done since late April, 2011) for months to come, and I hope you will come back to my blog time and again.

3.  There are some excellent bloggers out there! 

There were disappointments in the challenge, yes.  The links I clicked on, only to find no recent posts. (I appreciated the one woman, whose blog I had started to enjoy, who told her readers that she had to drop out.)  The posts that were way too long. (There's a place for that, but a blogging challenge is not it,.)  Captchas.   I  have moderation on because, without it, I would be flooded in spam, but having a capcha is an extra step for commenting that will drive away traffic. Trust me on that. 

There were several days I could not devote much time for the Challenge due to a family situation. I will try to pre write more posts next year.  Some letters were truly hard (and I suspect we all know which ones those were.)  Some of my posts were poorly edited because I didn't have the time.

And one surprise - the post that got the most traffic?  One on earthquake bolts in Charleston, South Carolina.  Maybe I should blog more about Charleston.  I'll give it some serious thought.

And now, I have to get back to my enjoyment of Spring.  But first, I will leave you with some jokes you will love if you love puns.

To all my new readers - thank you!

Civil War Sunday - When Reenact?

150 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln, the assassinated 16th President of the United States, was buried in Springfield, llinois.  His body was brought there by train, the main long distance mode of transportation in 1865.

The route of the train was, itself, a type of reenactment, as it retraced (in reverse) the train trip that Lincoln made from his home in Springfield to his first inauguration in 1861.

At each stop, except for New Jersey, Lincoln's body lay in state.  Over 10,000. people watched the train leave Washington, DC.  Thousands more mourned at each stop:  Baltimore, Maryland.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  New York City.  Albany (the capital of New York State).  Buffalo, New York (where, in 1901, another President would be assassinated).  Cleveland, Ohio.  Columbus, Ohio. Indianapolis, Indiana.  Michigan City, Indiana.  Chicago, Illinois and, finally, Springfield.

The route wasn't a straight line but made a loop. It was a long journey home.

All this weekend, solemn remembrances and ceremonies were held in Springfield.  Many observers dressed in Civil War era clothing.  Over twelve hundred Civil War reenactors participated. Blogs carried live coverage.  Six descendents of the 12 pallbearers who bore Lincoln's casket in 1865 attended. 

Why?  Why, when we have photos (some in stereo), and written accounts, do we need to dress up in costumes and reenact events?  Well, it may surprise you to discover that Civil War reenactments were already being held even while the Civil War was still being fought.

The earliest men and women reenacted successful hunts.  As for the Civil War reenactments held prior to the end of the war, there are various explanations-  fund raisers, battle practice, and to educate the people back home supporting (or not supporting) the war effort.

Reenactments are how we touch the face of history.  It is how history comes alive for us.  Instead of reading history in some history book (I have to admit I am not big on reading books on history, despite my interest in history) I would much rather go to a well-researched and historically accurate reenactment.

Apparently, many people feel the same way I do, and it isn't just the United States that does this.  In June of 2015, there will be a major reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo in Europe.  It will be, after all, the 200th anniversary of the final defeat of Napoleon.

Have you ever been to a historical reenactment of a battle or other historical event?

Local Saturday-Ithaca New York Farmers Market

Nw that the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is over (except for one more post Monday), I am getting back to my normal weekly features.

For the benefit of new readers: On Saturdays, I have a "Local Saturday" feature; Sundays "Civil War Sunday" (about the United States Civil War and its immediate aftermath), and Wednesdays "Spring Things".  I am thinking about participating in the "Throwback Thursday" meme, but haven't made up my mind yet.

For today's Local Saturday,  I am celebrating the return of the outdoor farmers market season in upstate New York by today's visit to the farmer's market in Ithaca, New York.

Ithaca is the home of both Ithaca College and Cornell University. Interest in "ethnic" and organic food is high.  Unlike some farmers markets in this area, the Ithaca Saturday/Sunday market at Steamboat Landing requires producers to grow their offerings within 30 miles of the market.

Today, we purchased some Senposai Japanese greens.  We love these, and we can not get these where we live, a bit more than an hour's drive from Ithaca.

Local greens.

Ramps are in top of photo

We also purchased a bunch of ramps, a wild plant which we would like to try to cultivate in our shady back yard.We wonder if the harvesting of ramps, almost all of which are obtained from the wild, is endangering the plants or not.

Red mustard greens and spring greens. 

The market also had radishes and some beets (which I suspect were from last year).  After our hard winter, we are so thrilled to have our farmers markets again.

Happiness is a warm green.  Hopefully, our community garden plots will be ready soon.  We are ready to plant.  More on that Tuesday.

Do you have a local farmers market?  Is it your growing season yet?

Zozzled with Spring

Zozzled - a 1920's term for being drunk.

In upstate New York, we are zozzled with spring.

Rest Area, Catskill Mountains, New York Easter Sunday

It's been a long time a'coming.

Broome County Public Library April 13

First it was the crocuses.

Followed by the forsythias.

April 24

Then, some more snow last Thursday and Friday.  Not just snow, snow squalls.  Winter wanted one last dance with us.

Now, we turned the corner.  70's yesterday.  70's today.  It makes you want to dance.  We even had sunshine.

Our Front Yard 4-30

Daffodils.

The last of our back yard bloodroot.

And grape hyacinths.

Weather forecasters are predicting 80F (26.6 C) by Thursday 

Winter is done.  The Zombied Snowcopolyse is over.  It's time for some zozzling.  Happy May Day!

Speaking of zozzling, I should be reaching my 2000th blog post later in May.  I just "may" prepare a special post for my 2000th.