The First Empty Nest Mothers Day - Bouquets and Memories

This is not exclusively a gardening blog, and I will be back to ramblin' on other subjects next week. (Stay tuned especially for Haiku Tuesday on May 10, and for my guest blogger this Thursday.)

In the Blogathon I am participating in, my gardening/photo posts have gotten good response.  So, since this is one of my favorite subjects anyway, I'll keep with it (plus the spring plants of Binghamton and Johnson City) a few more days.

This Mothers Day has dawned foggy.  I didn't mean to be up this early but my spouse snores and.....

This is my first Mothers Day as an empty nester.  Will my young adult son drop by later? (he works nights, so it wouldn't be until late afternoon or early evening.)  Will he call at least?  I'm going through that kind of thing for the first time.

Fellow mothers of adults say "he's a son" when I wonder about those things.

And, of course, I think back to other Mothers Days, when I got up early because my energetic toddler/preschooler was up early.  In those days my spouse usually worked weekends so it was just me and my son.  There were the couple of obligatory Mothers Days "breakfasts" consisting of somewhat interesting food that I grinned and beared through.  If my spouse was home, it was a joint effort.

And then I had a day to do what I wanted.  In those days, what a luxury!

I still appreciate it.

I would also be remiss if I do not pay tribute to special Mothers in my life.  For those interested I am reblogging two previous Mothers Day entries. I especially pay tribute to my Mom, who died when I was 12.  Mothers day always has a poignancy about it for that reason.  But onward....

Today, if the fog lifts, gardening is on the agenda, as my back permits.

So, as it is Mothers Day:  I have some virtual flowers for all my "mom" readers.  I've been enjoying the Blogathon, and welcome fellow blogathoners visiting my blog with more photos.

Taken yesterday on the West Side of Binghamton are pictures of creeping phlox.  This homeowner has several patches of these plantings, but I would have needed to go onto his property-which I never do-to take other pictures.  So this is what I could take from the road.

Here is another view:

The other picture is a closeup of what I think is a double flowered pink flowering cherry.  It does have cherry tree like bark. This seems to be a good year for these trees.

For some reason (probably a combination of bleariness and Blogger) my photos are not cooperating, so I am going to end the post a little sooner than I had planned to.

Later today, I hope to post pictures from our area's annual orchid show.  I took some pictures Friday but they aren't as high quality as I would have hoped. I'll pick through them and post the best.



So, from upstate NY, I wish every Mom reading this blog a Happy Mothers Day, and I hope to post some orchid pictures later today.

Black Petunias and Other Garden Surprises

Today was one of those strange weather days.  Started out sunny, clouded out, then the showers came.  Now it's back to sunshine.

In the morning spouse and I took a walk and enjoyed the spring scenery.  While it was cloudy and threatening, we went to nurseries, and made our selections.  After the rain stopped, we planted.

This year we are purchasing a lot of different things, trying to experiment.  I can see where our years of buying plants in nurseries is going to end soon.  Prices keep going up and up, and so does gasoline.  We don't have much windowsill space, which is why we went to buying plants several years ago, but I think those days of getting flowers from seed is going to return soon.

Rather than pay $25. for my Mothers Day hanging basket, I decided to make it myself for about $12.75 worth of plants.  (I've made baskets in the past, with varying degrees of success.)  The plants I used are for the one location that I have a full-sun hanger.  Two of the varieties are new to the market this year.

Here's a picture of the basket.  The yellow flowered plant is a Surfina Yellow Bush.  The black with yellow pinwheels is a new petunia called Phamtom.  It is not a truly black petunia but rather is very deep purple.
The all black petunia (again, really very dark purple) is called Black Velvet.

This isn't as full as a ready made basket would be but it will fill out.  I'm patient.

I hope the two black petunias can hold their own against the surfina.

The next "new to us this year" is a Nemsia hybrid.  This was of interest first, because it advertised itself as good for cut flowers and second, because it is "full sun part shade".  They are Proven Winners, a company that has rarely disappointed me here in upstate New York.  The location will be mainly full sun for much of the summer, but as the sun angle changes towards fall, it will get more shady.

In doing some research, I found they are related to snapdragons.  I had great luck with snapdragons in Arkansas (which has warmer summers than we do) but for some reason, after springtime, snaps have always petered out for us.  Nope the Nemsias do not disappoint.

Here's the pot I planted.

Finally, we fell in love with a little Dahlia varieta called "Dahlietta".  We've had very good luck with dahlias (I am still planting tubers from plants given to us by a friend - who later died from cancer - about 21 years ago. ) These, though, don't have to be dug up in the fall-they are annuals.

The one thing I'm worried about is (after the fact) I found they are heavy users of water, meaning I may have to water them more than once a day in hot weather.

Yuck.

If I remember, I will report later this summer on how these new type plants did for me.

Tales of Poinsettias, Amaryllis, and Dead Orchids

I have a very soft spot in my heart for seasonal houseplants.  I can never get a houseplant and then throw it out.  Every houseplant deserves a fair chance. 

Every Black Friday I buy two poinsettias - one for me and one for my mother in law.  They are cheap, and high quality.  It's become a tradition.  As my spouse browses the tools I head right for the rack of 99 cent pointsettias.  They only have red, but who cares?

My mother in law does what most normal people do.  She keeps it for the holidays and then tosses it.

I overwinter mine.

Then, I put it outside for the summer.  In the fall I bring it in, where it usually proceed to die.  (at that point I don't feel guilty any more).  But the spindly specimen above refused to die.  (it's sitting to the left of Black Friday 2010's plant.)  And not only that, without any special handling....it grew a pinkish bract. (it didn't flower).  Right in my northern facing kitchen window.  No "put it in the closet for 14 hours a day, and heaven forbid if you miss one day, it isn't going to color up."

Although....should I admit it, but years ago I actually did just that.  And it really did color up before it died.  But I digress.


Then is the story of my amaryllis plant.

I got this plant in the fall of 2009 from Home Depot-no, make that "I got the bulb in the fall of 2009 from Home Depot".  It was so lonely in its box, and it was 20% off.  How could I resist?

I planted it in a pot,watered, and it dutifully sprouted, grew and bloomed in time for the 2009 holidays.  After the holidays, I put it in another north facing window (I have no shortage of north facing windows), overwintered, and then after frost I put it outside.  It stayed green all summer long.

In the fall I thought "isn't this supposed to go dormant?"  I stopped watering it.  The foliage died back.  I left it until...I think it may have been January, and at that point I thought to myself "I wonder if it will come back?"  The bulb looked green under its brown skin.  So I watered, and nothing.  Nothing for perhaps 6 weeks.

And then there was a sprout.  We had ignition!

March 21 I went on vacation. When I returned on March 31, there was a nice stalk and....the beginning of a bud. (If I knew I would be Blogathoning, I would have documented the entire process.)  Last week it bloomed.  The flowers didn't last long, but I did get a picture.

Last but not least, is my love/hate affair with orchids.

Every year our mall has an Orchid Show.  For three days, center court is occupied by orchid fanciers with their fancy, expensive plants.  Beautiful, expensive plants with their unspoken challenge..."Keep Me Alive.  I Dare You!"

And yours truly always gets suckered into buying one.  And then they last one to two years.  Some rebloom.  They all die.

  

This one is my latest victim.  Pay your respects.  It looks green but I'm sure it will be joining its brothers and sisters in the next orchid world before the end of the year.

Will I buy another one? 

Or, will I think of next week's Ithaca Plant Sale and save my money for that?

Decisions, decisions.

The Greatest Plant Sale on Earth

Ithaca, NY (home of Cornell and Ithaca College) is about a pleasant hour's drive from the Binghamton area.  I am ashamed to say that I mocked Ithaca (actually, Cornell) as a child growing up in the Bronx, singing the ditty that begins

"High above Cayuga's waters, there's an awful smell...."

(I was astounded to discover that my spouse learned the same song, sung to the tune of the the Cornell song, growing up a few miles north of me in Yonkers, NY).

Still, something in me ached to visit the Finger Lakes one day.  I never made it there until I moved to Binghamton in the mid 1980's.  I am so glad that I have had the pleasure of visiting Ithaca many times over the past 20 plus years. 

High above Cayuga's water is....a fascinating college town.

It's an event.  A "happening", if you will.  Or, as the locals say, "Ithaca is Gorges".  If only Binghamton could pull these same things off.   We have an excellent university, too, but somehow....we just aren't a college town.

What does Ithaca feature, besides Cornell?  The greatest library book sale ever. (a bit pricey, but just imagine....an entire WAREHOUSE of books.  I could live out my life in there.)  A great food co-op, Greenstar.  A fascinating Farmers Market (if you can find parking, that is.)  And....the greatest annual plant sale on earth.

Last year, I was privileged to be able to visit Ithaca's annual plant sale, as I blogged about.  I was disappointed to hear that this year's plant sale was going to be in a different location .  The good news is, the location is near a wonderful natural foods store called Ludgate Farms, and a mecca for birders, Sapsucker Woods.

I can't wait.  I'm like a little child, jumping up and down, already dreaming of my purchases to come.

I should report on how I made out with last year's purchases.  A variegated basil, Pesto Perpetuo, did nicely in a pot. (we tried to overwinter it, but it didn't last long.)  Sadly, the heirloom tomato plants we bought (Black Rainbow) did not do all that well in our Earthboxes.  They didn't get late blight (as I feared they would) but just somewhat languished.

This year?  I don't care if it was in the 40's yesterday.  I don't care if we keep getting rain.   I've reviewed the list of vendors.  They include a couple of my favorite Ithaca nurseries.  I am bubbling over.  I can hardly wait.

From Tragedy a Blog was Born - And Now I Do a Blogathon

My several steady fans may be wondering why I have a "Wordcount Blogathon 2011" badge at the top of my blog.

I'm wondering too.

At the end of this month I am going to thank a certain person who will remain nameless (for now)....or kill her. (and you know who you are).

A Blogathon is, simply, a way to compete against yourself.  To write a blog post every day for a month.  A solid month.  An entire, 31 day, month. (couldn't the person who dreamed this up consider February?)  Day after day after day after day....

Now, my anonymous friend had some time to prepare for this.  I found out with only hours left before registration closed.  So I just "did it", jumped feet first, eyes closed, and sent in my registration.

If you are so full of yourself that you think "no problem!  I can think of 31 straight posts, no sweat"...this blogathon is not for you.

I'm petrified.  Know why?  Because people are going to visit my site.  Genuine writers.  As in Professional Writers, Writing Professors,  People who Write For A Living and Actually Make Money off their Blogs through their sweat.  People who know about stuff like grammar, querying, deadlines, rejections.  As opposed to people like me who write because....well, they have to.

They have to write or they explode.


So, how did I ever get into blogging to begin with?

It had to do with the events of April 3, 2009.  That was the date when Binghamton, NY joined the select group of cities and towns of our nation where a madperson grabbed a gun and opened fire.  13 dead innocent people later, our local madman took his own life.

Our paths may have crossed, his and mine.  I frequent the Binghamton library and apparently....so did he.  My son likes to shop at Gander Mountain Sports, where the gunman bought his weapon.  That was scary, too.  But I did not know those things the evening of the shooting.

That evening, I wrote an email to friends, reassuring them I was alive and well (I work in downtown Binghamton, several blocks from the shooting site).  That email, edited, became my first blog post.

So, what are my goals?  Well, losing 30 pounds would be nice.  But seriously, I am not a professional writer and I don't hope to compete with the professional writers.  Rather:  I want to develop the discipline to write regularly - and to gain some skills and knowledge in case I ever have to find another way to make a living.  My back problems prevent me from competing on Dancing with the Stars and my voice would get me a lifetime ban from American Idol, so...making a fool of myself on the Internet is a good alternative.

So far, there has been an additional bonus-being able to visit and comment on some pretty neat blogs written by my fellow Blogathoners.  There's some really good reading out there and I didn't even know about it.  I wouldn't have known it without the Blogathon.  I've been enjoying reading these other blogs, so much so that I didn't even sleep that well last night.

 I don't know if I will get to them all, but I will try. And I will try to make it through the 31 days.

Wish me luck!

Crispy, Crunchy Downtown Binghamton Suffers Another Fire

In case you are wondering why I have a "Wordcount Blogathon 2011" badge on my site, all will be revealed later today....

Two blog posts in one day! (I'll try to remember that later this month when I am dragging myself through a Sahara of lack of inspiration.)  I did that yesterday and hope to do that today.  Not that I'm bragging because I know later this month I will be dragging myself through the hot, sandy desert of lack of inspiration. But in the meantime....

I couldn't resist talking about the second fire in five months in downtown Binghamton, which hit just in time for the lunchtime crowd yesterday.  (this fire was not very far from the buildings in these pictures).

I found out about it when my walking partner and I walked down Court Street (the main street of downtown Binghamton) around 11:45 today, first smelling smoke and then seeing various bystanders and a number of firetrucks.  The smell of smoke hung over the air.  Police diverted traffic as office workers and other residents watched.


Downtown Binghamton has already suffered enough from the first fire.  The historic Press Building and Midtown Mall buildings are being fixed, but it is going to be a long process - especially for the Press Building.  A major downtown street has been blocked off ever since the December fire.

This site has a news video which gives you a good look at some of the historic buildings of downtown Binghamton.

Some whispers of arson....or at least of mystery.  Only time will tell.  They've never identified the full cause of the first fire.  Wonder how they will do on this one.

Paris Was Ours

I have never been to Paris.  I've never been to Europe.  I've never been off the North American continent.  But I would like to one day.  I have some French inlaws, if you can consider an inlaw of your cousin a type of inlaw.  And my brother in law is going to go to France later this year.

So, I was interested in this giveaway...maybe I could get up the courage to actually get on an airplane and fly there.  Well, maybe one day.  First, I would have to get a passport, but that is another story.

I've always been fascinated about expatriats, people who would leave this country to live somewhere else.  I did that on a small scale earlier in life, when I left New York to live in Florida, in Texas, in Kansas, in Arkansas (with a small stint in Iowa).  But I did return....

The anthropology major in me wants to win.

And if I don't win....you can!  Follow the link above but hurry....the contest is almost over.

Will I win? I'll really be surprised, but here goes.

The Secret Fear

I don't blog about really serious subjects too often but it isn't because I don't think of them.  Sometimes I think of serious things too much.

One of them is widowhood.

A work friend returns to work today, a week after entering the club of widowhood. She is (more or less) my age.  I can not even imagine how difficult today will be for her.

I know another person, about five years younger than me, who also entered that state in the recent past.  For this woman,she went to work and came home to find her husband unresponsive. (heart attack).  How ironic that only the day before the woman received recognition for teaching Mission Meltaway, a course that helps people lose weight and gain in good health habits.  Meanwhile, her husband was a long time smoker.

And (I guess ironically, given the events of the last couple of days concerning the death of Osama Bin Laden) there was our co-worker who lost his son on September 11, making his pregnant daughter in law a widow at the same time.

For the woman returning to work today, it was a very long process to get to widowhood, over 6 years, of one health crisis after another, with her husband finally ending up in a nursing home. But anyone in that situation knows that caretaking doesn't end at the nursing home.  Its nature only changes.

That's the scary part about aging.  We don't know what will happen.  Will we have our health until the end?  Or will we end up in a slow decline, due to ill health, accidents, or both?  I think of that a lot with my back problems.  Will I be able to care for my spouse should something happen to him?

And, if we are in loving marriages, which my workfriend was, we know that one day we may either be the caregiver, or the caretaker.  Or both.  And, that one day, chances are we will enter the club that no woman wants to be a member of.  And how we will cope.  And how we will recover, and move on.

It's not something we like to think about.  But today, I am.

Spring at Last! Spring at Last!

Every plant in my front and back yard tells a story.  And they were out telling their stories this past weekend.

This primrose was rescued from the mid winter clearance rack of Wegmans several years ago. I planted it out when weather permitted and it has thrived since.

The first time I ever experienced primroses was during a trip to Seattle in February of 1977.  It seemed like every streetcorner had a planting of them.  Just seeing flowers in bloom in February was enough to get my heart pounding.  In Seattle, we also saw flowering cabbage and kale for the first time.  I love them, but we have a big groundhog problem, and they eat them right up.  So, all of our plants have to be groundhog-resistant.

This, another primrose, was rescued from my mother in law's yard when the overzealous lawn maintenance company who tends her property decided to go on a search-and-destroy mission, keeping things tidy at the expense of any unsuspecting plant that even remotely resembled a weed.

This is a variegated brunneria.  This came from Gibbs Garden Center in LeRaysville, Pennsylvania.  The nice thing about Gibbs is that they are in a harsher zone than we were, so anything that grows there will grow here.  I love the small blue flowers.  Much of our back yard is shady, and it can be a challenge to find perennials for that type of area.  The woman at Gibbs taught us how to garden in shade.  Unlike sun perennial gardening, you go for interesting leaf color or structure rather than large, showy flowers.  This plant is a perfect example of that principal.

 A white hyacinth, and I wish blogs had "smell-o-blog" because the scent of this flower could fill an entire room.

These are some of the daffodils we have.  Our daffodils are a mixture of early, mid season and late.  We get ours from a mail order nursery, Brecks.

Spring....I so wish the weather forecasts are wrong, the sun comes out, and the flowers continue to bloom.

The Wrath of Spring

Yesterday was one of those spring days that made you want to dance and sing, bask in the sunshine, run to the nearest nursery and buy tons of plants.

I knew it is supposed to be rainy and in the forties the rest of this week.  Well, maybe not all week. But I had to soak up that sunshine while it existed.  In the Southern Tier, the sunshine plays a shy, hide and seek game with us while it gives its bright favors to other parts of the country.

Spouse, seeing that Spring Madness had hit, walked around the yard with me as I took pictures of some of my flowers.  But the foot was put down about the nursery, that would have to wait for today.

So I contented myself with taking some pictures of flowers, and dreamed of nursery shopping.

Today, after our exercise walk on the Vestal Rail Trail, we headed for Tioga Gardens.  I love their tropical conservatory.  It is loaded with tropical plants (and open all year), and visiting with their rehab tropical birds is always a treat.  I can spend a lot of time there, and I always buy something (even if it's just an African Violet), so I restrict myself to visiting twice or three times a year.

This time I wanted to pick up some pansies and look at their started plants for after frost.

But this wasn't going to be the typical visit, as we learned very quickly.

As we slowed to make our turn in the parking lot, it was obvious that they had been flooded.

Several days of heavy rains caused our rivers to exit their banks earlier in the week.  It wasn't as extensive as our 2006 flood (That caused part of my neighborhood to be evacuated and caused lots of heartache overall.  We didn't have much damage but I know people in other areas who lost their homes and belongings.). But this flood brought to certain select areas something the Flood of 2006 hadn't as much-mud.   And Tioga Gardens was in one of the unfortunate areas.

Part of the tropical dome conservatory was roped off.  Piles of bagged topsoil and mulch were splattered with dried mud.  Muddy, dead plants were strewn about.  Part of the outdoor displays were roped off.  How much inventory had they lost?  A heartbreak for an established local business.  I doubt any of it was covered by insurance.  Their employees were working diligently, and they were open for business.  Still lots of inventory available for sale, so don't hesitate to come out and support a local business.

I hope the tropical birds are safe.

No, you won't see any pictures.  I learned from the Flood of 2006 that rubberneckers are not welcome in disaster neighborhoods; we aren't zoo animals to be stared at.  So out of respect, we bought our plants (ignoring the obvious reek of flood-if you have never smelled the reek of flood you are fortunate) and left.

Now back at home, spouse is working in the front yard.  Grateful that the flood wasn't as bad as it could have been.  It brings back too many bad memories.

But the rivers are still running high, and we are supposed to get more rain this week.

Suddenly Spring

Only a week ago our trees were just budding out.  Forsythias were out, but winter was hanging on for dear life.  We were still having enough cloudy days with temperatures barely into the 50's.

There is a saying in my spouse's family that late Easters are always hot.  That wasn't the case here, but over the weekend, there was some kind of unseen alarm clock that must have gone off in the natural world.

Don't blink, Southern Tier, or you will miss spring!

We went downstate for three days and when we got back on Monday, the Bradford Pears were in bloom.  And now they are fading fast, along with the flowering cherries and some other flowering trees.  The magnolias are budding today;  by Monday they will probably be gone too.  The redbuds are coming out now along with some early azaleas.  Andromedas are still blooming but not for long.   Hey, what happened? 

Unfortunately, this is what happens when we have late springs.  We get the "everything at once" syndrome.  Green bomb.  Suddenly Spring.

Since my back went out again Thursday, I don't know if I will get any "action" shots to show you.  (and, I do mean "action".) 

This does make me long, in a way, for the springs of the south.

On March 21, we stayed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina and the Bradford Pears were in full bloom.

 On March 30, we stayed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and the Bradford Pears were in full bloom.

I don't wish for tornadoes but sometimes I wish we could have a spring like that.  The stately progression of one flowering tree after another.  And they even hang around for a while.

But don't get me wrong, I am enjoying every bit of it.  Spring is here, here, here, here!

Bring Me My Chariot of Fire.....

Oh, if only TV had been invented before 1509. And, the Internet.  And Facebook.  Just think.  Instead of having to watch "The Tudors"....

We could have seen the wedding of HenryVIII and Katherine of Aragon live.  And rerun.  And rerun.  And when he married Anne Boleyn someone would maybe have run videos of the weddings side by side.  The birth of his son?  Would Henry have had a Facebook page

Instead, I saw an event today whose broadcast would not have been possible the year I was born.

"In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding...." we were told today.

I got to see about 7 minutes of the royal wedding this morning, scurrying around to get ready for work.  I'm watching it now as a rerun on MSNBC.  With all the power Henry Tudor had at his fingertips, he never could have imagined this.

Instead, I imagine this as a sort-of live telecast of The Tudors.  The very existence of the Church of England that married William and Catherine was thanks to Henry and the inability of Katherine to produce a male heir.  And, even in a 2011 wedding, three reasons were cited for people to marry - the first being the production of children.

Oh Catherine.  Be grateful that you weren't used as a pawn to gain power by your family, as Anne Boleyn was.  And don't feel all that pressure to produce a male heir.  You won't end up in the Tower of London.

When I heard James Middleton give the Bible reading , (the part of the ceremony I saw live) I heard commentary that it didn't uset the translation of the King James Bible - considering that Prince Charles is Patron of the King James Bible Trust.  Hmmm?  Well, nowadays it would be only food for bloggers, not a trip to the chopping block for the offending party.  (it was disappointing in a way, given the 400 year history of the KJB.)

The  homily?   It was very thought provoking.  Especially if you think of Charles and Diana and what became of their marriage.

The special decorations of Westminister Abbey for the wedding?  Made me wish for a HDTV (still don't have one!)


Later in the ceremony I saw Elton John and his husband, singing "Jerusalem" with the crowd. Ever since I first heard that song in Chariots of Fire, it has given me chills to hear it.  I really can't explain why.

I send (over the Internet, this evening) Catherine wishes for a happy, long marriage. (Given William's love of the warrior life, I hope she keeps busy.)   I hope she doesn't suffer the fate of two other famous Catherines:  Katherine of Aragon (daughter of Queen Isabella of Spain) and Catherine Howard.

Useless in Savannah? Or, the Scent of Tobacco

The Daily Beast recently posted a listing of "20 Most Useless College Degrees."

One of the majors was Art, and an accompanying picture showed the campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

If you ever visited downtown Savannah, GA, you wouldn't think an art college was useless, because...well, how do I put it...SCAD basically owns it.  And, however they have managed to do it, they have made a lot of money in the process.

Was it a bad thing?  From the point of view of this tourist, I don't think it was a bad thing at all.  SCAD has given back a lot to Savannah, including a lot of urban renewal.  (and, one of these days, I'll even post some of my Savannah photos.)  Their students provide downtown Savannah with a lot of vitality.  Binghamton could take a lesson from that. (we are trying, true, but still have a long way to go.  Still, if they want to study Savannah in depth, I volunteer to go.  Just not in July or August.  March 17 would be nice.

I tried to support SCAD, honest I did.  We went into one SCAD store hoping to buy a souvenir but found a lot of very pricey items for sale.  True, the items were high quality.  If I had the budget I definitely would have paid $15. for a bottle of tobacco scented hand cream.  Tobacco?  No, it didn't smell like cigarette smoke.  It smelled like tobacco flowers.  I had never smelled this fragrance, and I loved it.  Alas, I passed it up.
...Binghamton could learn a few lessons from Savannah and the role a college can play in the revitalization of a city's downtown.  And, who knows, maybe Binghamton will have a special scent too, one day.

The Green and the Grey

The last couple of days. I got a break from the seemingly eternal winter-into-spring holding pattern we seem to be experiencing here in the southern tier of NY.  I was downstate, 40 miles north of NYC, and to my delight saw enkianthus, andromeda, forsythia (well we have forsythia blooming here too), plus the usual assortment of spring bulbs.  Magnolias were getting ready to pop.  There were also assorted flowering trees putting on a show.  I thought I even saw a weeping peach.

We heard spring peepers!   We saw the sun!

After a two day dose of green, we left, and after passing through Middletown, came back to the grey of the Catskills, which we must cross on the way home.  Fog, grey, drizzle.  At least, by the time we got home, it was close to 65 degrees.  There have been some rumbles of thunder tonight.  We are under a severe thunderstorm warning.

In a way, it's about time. (Hope I don't eat my words.)

Two Springs

My First spring, in mid to late March, was a celebration of all that southern weather could bring in coastal Charleston and Savannah.  Sunshine, warm breezes, blooming dogwoods and azaleas, late daffodils finishing up, early irises opening their flowers, the last of the camillias displaying their rose-like red and pink flowers, the first of the roses showing their buds, thunderstorms, green skies, hail, and torrential rains. (Thankfully for us, the tornadoes held off until we left.)

Now, here in the Southern Tier on Earth Day, the warm breezes are a mostly-distant memory. Here, in Second spring, spring fights for every toe hold, the occasional warm day competing with day after day of unrelenting clouds, chilling winds, with birds singing through it all.  The crocuses have finished.  In today's 30ish degree weather, the daffodils and early tulips nod in the cold breeze, with hyacinths almost ready to open their blossoms.  In our back yard, the Lenten Rose is in bloom and the bloodroot is showing its white flowers.  But I protest at having to enjoy them with a coat on.

Later today, it will be with a raincoat on, too.

On the other hand, I could be living in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the University weather station reports there is still 10 inches of snow on the ground.  Their mean snow melt date is April 22.  Last year the last snow melted on April 21.  Not this year.


Spring in Binghamton, please come!  Please tell me that when Nanticoke Gardens opens on Monday, that you will be ready for their plants.

Civil War Stamps and the Battles of (Manassas? Bull Run?)

I am not a stamp collector, but I did expect there to be an issue of Civil War stamps and I was not disappointed.

Concurrent with the April 12th sesquecentennial of the shelling of Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor, was the release of the first of several Civil War stamps.

I invite you to read the article posted about this issuance....it is a very good one.

One thing I was struck by in the article was the mention of the "Battle of First Bull Run."  This battle was also known as First Manassas.  Bull Run (named after Bull Run Creek) was the name of the battle (actually there were two battles, about 13 months apart) as I learned it, growing up in the North.  First and Second Manassas are the title given by the descendents of the Confederates.  But interestingly, the National Park Service site (a U.S. National Park )is called Manassas National Battlefield Park.

In some ways our country is still divided, even to what we call some battles.  And when I travel in the South, it always strikes me when I see buildings proudly flying what we call the American flag.  And how many proud sons of the South serve in the U.S. Military. (when my spouse was in the military, I can tell you, a lot of his fellow soldiers were from the South.) but in other ways, the Civil War is still being fought at the same time.

Why would we care about First Manassas or First Bull Run, whatever you want to call it?  Because this was the battle (fought July 21, 1861) where both sides first truly realized that this war was not going away, that both sides were going to be into it for the long haul.  Many of the symbols we associate with the Civil War grew out of this battle.  The Union troops or Federals wearing blue, the Confederates wearing gray or butternut brown, the flag we know as the Confederate flag (there were several, and my favorite, the Stars and Bars, looked too much like a U.S. flag in the windless conditions of the battlefield that day)

No one could have seen what that long haul would cost.  Over 618,000 dead.  If you look at the population of our country in 1870 (39,800,000) it comes out to about 2% of the population.

We can only imagine how devastating this must have been, to both North and South, especially to the people of the South. (some may wonder, why is a Northerner being sympathetic to the South?  Keep in mind that they bore the brunt of the civilian casualties.  Maybe they "deserved" it but if they deserved it, that is a discussion for another day.) And while we are at it, let's remember some of the places that suffered greatly before and during the Civil War.  Bloody Kansas wasn't named Bloody Kansas for nothing. (and I did live in Kansas, earlier in life, for about 4 years).

Recently, Time Magazine ran an article on Why the U.S. is still fighting the Civil War.  The horror was so great that we blocked chunks of "why" out of our collective mind...and many people are still doing it.

Myself, I can identify with the Civil War so much....yet (as I've blogged before) I had no ancestors here at the time.

So, as part of my interest, I'm seriously thinking about visiting Manassas for the July 21st anniversary of First Manassas, First Bull Run or whatever you want to call it.   Depends on if I drive my spouse crazy with this outburst of history.

Virginia Tech Anniversary and the Civil War

Today is the 4th anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. From one town impacted by a massacre in April to another, I remember this anniversary, just as I did when I passed the exit for Virginia Tech in my travels last month.  We had our anniversary recently, and we are trying to look ahead.

The Virginia Tech website looks ahead.  One feature on today's website was an article by someone attempting to save old battlefields from development.  Why should anyone care?  Because it is so important to know our heritage, both the good and the bad.   So sometimes it is good to look upon the past to learn lessons we can apply to the present.   And that is why the 150th anniversary of the Civil War is important to dwell upon.  Similar to the 1960's (the last "big" anniversary) we live in times full of change and uncertainty.  So it was in the 1860's too.   So it has been many times in our country's history. 

We have a lot to learn.  It is even instructive to delve into why we've forgotten so much.

I will be writing more on the Civil War (as promised), in the near future.

Should I Save the Date?

I had read about it....and now they have reached downtown Binghamton.

Major networks have reported about this.

Billboards have sprung up in many cities warning about it.

It is almost the day of judgment, and the announcement has reached downtown Binghamton.  Yes, the caravan of brightly painted RV's, announcing the end of the world on 5/21 of this year, has arrived.

About 10:30 this morning I was in a meeting, facing a window looking at a particular intersection, and I was amazed to see a fleet of what I thought were painted delivery vans (they were RV's) going down the street.  Their message?  The World was ending!  The date was May 21!  It wasn't going to be 2012 but 2011! The Bible guaranteed it!

At one point a woman exited one of the vehicles, took up residence in front of an office building, and started to hand out leaflets.

My spouse saw three of the vehicles in another part of the city later in the day.

Of course, only time will tell if this latest calculation is correct. But it would be a waste of time to point out all the other times people have been wrong about "the end".  After all, as investment companies like to say "Past performance is not indicative of future results." 

But interestingly....our local paper's website didn't have anything at all to say about the visit.

Crack Willows

I haven't indulged my FarmVille obsession on this blog for a few months.  So, today I'd like to speak about drug-addicted trees....no, wait.  There really is such a thing as Crack Willows, one of FarmVille's latest introduction.

Recently, FarmVille has permitted us to operate farms in England (FarmVille English Countryside).  We travel to and from our English farms on a motorized dirigible...sort of a steampunk-like touch, perhaps.  A number of English-like items have been introduced, such as Dexter cows, Sebright chickens (I almost purchased one in real life, regret that I never did), Modern Game Hens and now....crack willows.

Crack willows are so named because of their tendency to have branches separate from the main tree with a distinct cracking sound.  Such branches will travel down rivers and then easily root out and take root sometimes miles from where they started.  They root so easily that in our country, they are considered invasive.  

They even form hybrids with native willows.

They are all over NY State and a number of other states.  They are European in origin but I guess I've seen them everywhere and not even known about them.

Until FarmVille, I never even heard of them.

So who says playing computer games isn't educational.  And seriously, invasive plants are a serious matter.  Who knows, perhaps FarmVille can help us become educated to some of them.

The Civil War - Ft. Sumter

I was not able to make the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, at Ft. Sumter, in Charleston Harbor.  But, I did visit Charleston in March and I must say that Charleston must have more history per square inch than almost any other city in the United States.

 As a "Yankee", it is also fascinating to me to see "the other side".

If I had made it, there would have been so much to see and experience.

But in another way, it was good that we were able to experience a lot of downtown Charleston instead of chasing around various Civil War venues.

On a building downtown is this plaque.  The actual building is no longer there but at this site the Ordinance of Secession  for South Carolina was passed.  South Carolina was the first state to leave the Union, in December of 1860.

Over the next four months, a crisis built at a fort in Charleston Harbor, Ft. Sumter.  Actually, not too much of Ft. Sumter from the Civil War exists; much of what is on the site now dates from the Spanish-American War.  Nevertheless, there is a lot to see.


This first picture is the boarding of the ferry that takes you to Ft. Sumter.  The ferry ride lasts about 1/2 hour each way and you have an hour or so to tour the fort.  Boarding, we had a good view of the lovely Ravenel Bridge that spans the Cooper River.  Charleston lies between two rivers, the Ashley and the Cooper.

A taped narrative plays as the ferry approaches the island Ft. Sumter is located on.

When you embark at the Fort, what you see remaining of the Civil War fought looks like this.  It is amazing, given the bombardment this fort suffered, that any of it is still standing.

Inside one of the Spanish-American War buildings, is a museum where the Ft. Sumter Flag is on display....battered but in a place of honor.  There are 33 stars (states) on this flag. (It wasn't until later that I was told that flash photography can damage old cloth...but there was no sign prohibiting flash photography that I saw.  After the fort was surrendered to the Confederacy the union Major kept the flag.  This flag traveled throughout the North and was "auctioned off" to raise funds for the war.

On the way back, you can see the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, that is on display in Patriots Point in Charleston Harbor.

In a way it's good that we visited before the crush of people coming to commemorate the anniversary.

We enjoyed our visit very much but wish we had had more time to explore.