Ah, Spring Break

We never had "spring break." We had an "Easter" break, and it was only for three days -- I think I've mentioned this before. So maybe I should stop writing right now. Not!

I have something to say, and I'm going to say it.

Okay, I'm getting old, and now I forgot what I was going to say, especially since Alan interrupted me to ask about coffee creamer. You had to be here.

He does that a lot. He just seems to have an instinct built into his brain that says to him, Judi's BLOGging and it's time to interrupt her and distract her so she'll forget where she was going with a topic. That happens a lot! Of course, I'm not blameless in the interruption category.

He's working on taxes right now and that's almost 24/7 with him this time of the year. We have a LOT of medical bills to go through, and he said to me last night that it's getting more difficult each year for him to keep focused on what he's doing (with tax reporting). So, whenever I need to know something from him at this time of the year especially, I "interrupt" him at a crucial time. I guess I have the same radar he has in the interrupting category.

Back to "spring" break. I still can't remember what I was going to write about. So I'll reminisce a bit. (Wow, it took me a long time to remember how to spell reminisce!) I'm looking out my office window and I see the trees in bloom -- flowering pear tree, flowering crab, red bud, but no April gold. I'm wondering if the daffodils all got killed in the last freeze.

The view of the flowering trees brings my thoughts back home to Runnemede. It seems to me that Easter time (our spring break time) was a time of flowering trees and other flowers.

I know that New Jersey is not any warmer than Kentucky, although Kentucky does get much colder blasts occasionally than New Jersey ever does, and I don't recall the temperature in New Jersey ever going down to more than 2 below zero, where here in Kentucky, that's a common winter temperature. Plus, it seems that almost yearly we get down to almost 10 below at least once. So, why do I recall flowers at Easter time there, but they are not here? Is it because Easter was so early this year. Isn't it usually in April?

The flowering trees in New Jersey were mostly cherry blossom trees -- like the ones that line the sidewalks in Washington, DC. I recall that we had tulips by Easter, though, not the forced ones you can buy at the grocery store, I mean the ones that come up in the ground.

I did look at the neighborhood tulips that are popping through the other day, and they look a bit worn -- like they were nipped by some hungry deer (we don't get deer on our paved areas, only in the woods behind the homes). I hope they bloom. The landscape committee here (that would be my mom when I was growing up) was out and about, pulling weeds, checking to see how the annuals were fairing, etc.

Mom would do that as soon as she could go out and not freeze her hands. She liked to work without gloves, but wore them in certain places because of black widow spiders. Yes, we had BWSes in mom's garden in certain areas, so we didn't pick anything there without gloves, or not at all. Mostly they lived in her bed of lilies of the valley. She had that bed along the bedroom side of the house and it went the entire length of that side.

You know I see people tie up the leaves of lily of the valley, daffodils, and tulips, after they have bloomed. I wonder why they do that. My mother never did and her plants bloomed year after year.

This really has nothing to do with spring break, but I still can't remember what I was going to write about, so I'll stop rambling for now.

ADDENDUM: After I wrote this I went out to run many, many errands. And, what to my wondering eyes should appear bit YELLOW GOLD!!!!! It's all over the place, just not visible from my office window. I drove around the neighb and there it was. Then I went over the river and through the wood to Beechmont Avenue (a shopping strip near here) and while I was driving toward Beechmont through the tree-lined streets, I also noticed a tree that I hadn't mentioned, but which is prolific at this time of year with its blooms -- and that is the magnolia (sweet bay, my mom called it). Kentucky doesn't seem to have many magnolias, but I recall that Ohio did, and they were in full bloom. I suppose the dogwood will be out by next week.

Also, by the time I got home the weather prognosticators were predicting -- you guessed it -- snow showers? Go figure.