Officially Spring

[elleng]

'This is a deeply contentious time of year. The rains have torn out the road without fully melting the soil. What the calendar promises, the day itself retracts. Unless you knew better, you’d hardly believe there was the readiness of spring to be found anywhere. The witch hazel is blossoming, but undemonstratively, not in a way that really means anything. The only sign of spring I trust is the sound of the birds singing. It’s too early to call it ebullience, but it’s pointed in that direction. They are gathering to court and breed.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/opinion/20thu3.html?ref=opinion

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Here the daffodils are in bloom,

as are some flowering trees in town. Also the forsythia. And the service berry trees in the woods are white with blossoms. Waterfalls have appeared because of the heavy rains, and we have wash outs to deal with, but it was as if it were a cleansing rain, removing obstacles. But inside, there is the Light and Peace.

[PinkTiger]

2. You are definitely south of me.

We have daffodils and croci, but my two dogwoods have yet to flower. Easter is on Sunday! They missed it!
Usually at Easter we have dogwoods. And last year our florals and trees were snuffed out by an April freeze, and I'm terrified that might happen again. Let's hope not - none of the trees have bloomed yet, though.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. We got the horrible April frost last year as well

No apples or pears, and it took months for the oaks to recover. I'm hoping we don't have another freeze like it this year.

[elleng]

11. Interesting the difference 1-2 miles can make.

Went to my 'old' house in DC Tuesday, and picked a daffodil from the garden. (Tried to grab the whole bulb to attempt replant, but was unable.)Flower (on long stem) still looks perfect!

Haven't seen many daffys around here, nearby MD, and many early spring trees in DC are actually in bloom.

[MorningGlow]

3. Sigh. It's snowing as I type.

Not unusual for western NY, though. We're used to it--it's NEVER really spring on the equinox...or even on Easter, no matter how late it shows up...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Ah, dear western New York!

I love the green of Western New York--I've been to the Buffalo area twice in my lifetime (when I was a child), and was struck by the green of the grass and leaves. It felt so much like home! When I was older and did genealogical research, I found that a large number of ancestors were the first settlers of the area (Oswego and Ontario counties) and lived there for a couple of generations before moving West.

[MorningGlow]

6. I lived in Ontario County for a few years!

Our last house was in Springwater according to the town boundaries, but was actually closer to Honeoye geographically. I'm in Livingston County now.

Yes, once summer FINALLY hits, we are definitely green. Doesn't last long though!

We pine for a "real" spring--where it's sunny and warm-ish, and it rains, and the flowers bloom, and the trees bud...that only happens for about a month--usually just May--although it has been known to snow in May, so we're never too trusting. Then comes the green (and the humidity!)

[Callie McAllie]

7. I'm from upstate New York too!

Seneca County, the heart of the Finger Lakes. Seneca Falls, actually. The birthplace of women's rights. I went to Elizabeth Cady Stanton grammar school.

Is it odd that so many of us spiritual types hail from that area? It was, in the 1800s, a hot bed religious and political innovation.

Maybe that alternative thinking proclivity is in our genes?

[MorningGlow]

9. Cool!

:hi:

I was born in Rochester and have bounced around the area most of my adult life. Seneca Falls is a great place! Have you heard about the recent kerfuffle over the white deer herd at the old army depot? Some eedjits want to set up a "pay to hunt" business so men with tiny penii can kill some of the Goddess' most beautiful and rare creatures. Yeah, that'll play there. :eyes:

My former elder lives in Perry and has long said that western NY is a blessed area with great ley lines and lots of protection. I feel very at home here--no urge to move away--so I believe it. (No urge, that is, until W or Darth Cheney starts flapping his gums--then I want to run as far away from this country as possible, of course.)

On edit: The lyrics to Dar Williams' "Southern California Wants to Be Western New York" :rofl:

There's a part of the country could drop off tomorrow in an earthquake,
Yeah it's out there on the cutting edge, the people move, the sidewalks shake.
And there's another part of the country with a land that gently creaks and thuds,
Where the heavy snows make faucets leak in bathrooms with free-standing tubs.
They're in houses that are haunted, with the kids who lie awake and think about
All the generations past who used to use that dripping sink.

And sometimes one place wants to slip into the other just to see
What it's like to trade its demons for the restless ghost of Mrs. Ogilvey,
She used to pick the mint from her front yard to dress the Sunday pork,
Sometimes southern California wants to be western New York.

It wants to have a family business in sheet metal or power tools,
It wants to have a diner where the coffee tastes like diesel fuel,
And it wants to find the glory of a town they say has hit the skids,
And it wants to have a snow day that will turn its parents into kids,
And it's embarrassed, but it's lusting after a SUNY student with mousy brown hair who is
Taking out the compost, making coffee in long underwear.

And southern California says to save a place, I'll meet you there,
And it tried to pack up its Miata, all it could fit was a prayer,
Sometimes the stakes are bogus, sometimes the fast lane hits a fork,
Sometimes southern California wants to be western New York.

Tempe, Arizona thinks the everglades are greener and wetter,
And Washington, D.C., thinks that Atlanta integrated better,
But I think that southern California has more pain that we can say,
Cause it wants to travel back in time, but it just can't leave L.A.

But now I hear they've got a theme park planned, designed to make you gasp and say,
Oh, I bet that crumbling mill town was a booming mill town in its day,
And the old investors scoff at this, but the young ones hope they'll take a chance,
And they promise it will make more dough than Mickey Mouse in northern France,
And the planners planned an opening day, a town historian will host,
And the waitresses look like waitresses who want to leave for the west coast.

And they'll have puttering on rainy weekends, autumn days that make you feel sad,
They'll have hundred year old plumbing and the family you never had,
And a Hudson river clean-up concert and a bundle-bearing stork,
And I hear they've got a menu planned, it's tres western New York.

[Callie McAllie]

10. That's beautiful

I'm going to send it to my mom. She's still there, and meets once a week with a group called Mindwich. Not sure I spelled it right, but they are a bunch of intellectual free thinkers who share information and try not to argue politics with the few right wingers in the group.

I did hear about the deer. I saw them last summer, driving past the depot to a restaurant my Arizona brother read about. The deer were cool. The restaurant was only so-so.

[Callie McAllie]

8. If you want a short Spring

come to Michigan, where it is quite typical to use the heat and the air conditioning in the same day. Just around Mother's Day they flip the switch and we go from snow and ice and frost on the ground to summer.

But it is a glorious summer, light until 10 p.m. Nothing like it.

[eilen]

12. I'm in Central NY, Syracuse area

Today started with snizzle (snowish drizzle), that seemed to clear up and then we had strong winds. Very mischievious winds that liked to play games and make strange sounds. I've lived in Oswego County as well.

Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, are pretty similar weather wise esp. with the lake effect.

I really liked your poem about Southern California wanting to be Western NY. I lived in Southern California for a little while back in my 20's. I missed the East Coast so badly. I visited San Francisco and it felt more like home d/t the more temperate weather and the way the city is built (more vert than horizontal). San Diego felt like one suburb after another in an endless ocean of suburbs. I loved California but it wasn't "home" for me.

I always thought some smart person could design woolen long sleeved easter dresses and suits for us in the Northeast. We should pioneer May Day/ Beltane dresses.

[MorningGlow]

13. Howdy, neighbor!

And welcome to DU! :toast:

I love, love, love Dar Williams' music--and her lyrics read like poetry. She's amazing. I tried to find a YouTube vid of "Southern California" but there wasn't one. Bummer! :( (A great song of hers for this forum: "The Christians and the Pagans"--a hilarious, and yet finally touching, tune about a pair of lesbian witches hanging with Christian relatives on Christmas Eve.)

My brother lives in Riverside--has been there nearly 30 years--and I don't know how he does it. Even when I visit for a week, I'm dying to get home.

So funny you should mention warm Easter dresses--I was just thinking about how we get cheated out of that every year--how we always think we can wear those frilly, flowery spring dresses advertised for sale in all the store flyers, but it's always frickin' snowing on Easter, even when it's not as early as it is this year!
:rofl:

I really, really, really want to take my kid on an Easter egg hunt. Not this year, though. Brr!

[eilen]

14. I have never participated in an outdoor Easter Egg hunt.

My family had prided itself in their skills of hiding eggs very well in the house. Of course, it is important to remember where they are and there is always a final count at the end-- we don't need any ripe eggs in the summer! All eggs must be found. My brother has changed his strategy and now only hides the plastic eggs with candy or coins in them, that way he doesn't have to give up his celebratory adult beverages while hiding them.

Next year I am going to run up a number of wool blend, linen and corduroy Easter jumpers in different children's sizes and see how they sell. Maybe make up some Easter sweaters if I can find enough of them in Spring colors. I like to take secondhand clothing and give them new life. Although with global warming, I might not need to lol.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. The trees leafed out fully in this past week.

We had a high of 86 for a couple of days last week. The wisteria has started blooming and the dandelions are everywhere.

The pollen is HORRIBLE and lots of people are having problems breathing because of it. Prime allergy seasons here are Feb-March and Sept-October.

Between May and October, going outside for any length of time is hazardous to your health due to the heat and humidity.

The azaleas are blooming in full force now.