March lagged behind in its tempo to spring's marching

~~Spring of 2006, PL~~

 

 

                Most years by now all the spring-blooming plants were in full blossom, and I sometimes listed all I could see around Couchwood. Not this year. But with the few warm days we’ve had, more and more color is showing on this first day of spring.

 

                The inside plants blooming are blue African violets, and red epesia trumpets. The bracts of the red Christmas poinsettia, and two red carnations with baby’s breath and greenery (from the Valentine bouquet sent by my Florida son) still decorate my buffet.

 

                Oh, yes, and a bouquet of cut flowers lends springtime to my sight and a heady aroma to my nose from the dining table. For the first time ever, I also arranged a bouquet for the bathroom. (Why hadn't I thought of that before now?)

 

Outside on the porch are the newly released house plants. The baby jew from my Hot Springs son has tiny white dots for blooms. (I’ve never had such a plant before. ) Two other plants have their own odd-shaped blossoms. A cutting of begonia in water shows a pink bloom.

 

Five kinds of daffodil or buttercups brighten either the edges of the yard or the flower beds. The vintage double ones are more profuse than usual. And appear in more places. Others are common daffodils, a vintage, single fragrant buttercup, two hybridized ones—one completely yellow with a cup, and one yellow with an orange cup. Oh, and here’s another: ivory with a larger yellow cup.

 

Farther out are forsythia, japonica—both pink and white--and spirea, but none as full of color as they usually are by this time. Perhaps another week of warm weather…

 

Grandson Billy’s 24^th birthday was Wednesday. The first time in his life, he said, that it didn’t fall during spring break. He'll come "home" tonight and Friday (no classes; no work shift) for a rare visit.

 

Other family events happened in March. Dad was born March 25, 1909. One of my sisters—Barbara--was born on March 28, 1947. Mom died on March 28, 2006.

 

On March 20 in other years, Uncle Tom's Cabin was first published--in 1852. John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar, 1969.

 

On March 21^st in 1790, Thomas Jefferson became Secretary of State under President Washington. Alcatraz prison was emptied of prisoners by the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963.

 

March 22^nd saw The Beatles’ US album The Early Beatles released in 1965.

 

March 23^rd Patrick Henry's Give me Liberty speech occurred in 1775.The United States Mint produced its first coins made by a press in 1836.

 

March 24^th 1989 saw the largest oil spill in United States history. It happened in Alaska.

 

On March 25^th in 1954, RCA first produced color televisions. (I was a high school senior.)

 

March 26^th 1892, poet Walt Whitman died in Camden, New Jersey.

 

Belated, but still appropriate to the season is this Irish Blessing: “May good luck be with you wherever you go, and your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.”

c 2014, lovepat press, PL

Nature at its best and worst

by Pat Laster

This week, I was struck by these beauties in my yard in central Arkansas: japonica (firebush), forsythia (yellowbell), spirea, pansies, deep-red miniature nandinas, buttercups, heirloom double jonquils, blue-blossomed vinca, berried hollies, hyacinths, dianthus and the understated pink blooms of loropetalum.
Yellow coins of dandelions are blooming underfoot, a portent of future infestation. Hen-bit greens up the yard until the grass begins growing. A yellow sheep shire bloom and stars-of-Bethlehem are also visible in the grass and a lone grape hyacinth peeks from down low in the flower bed.
The oxalis foliage is lush and there are several pink blooms in the hanging basket outside the south window. And thrift. How could I overlook the cascading thrift? Also, the redbud (Judas Tree) is turning fuchsia. And if that weren’t enough, the pear tree is blooming!
Inside, an old begonia (close to the south window) shows one lonely bloom, but four African violets—three blue, one pink—are splendid in their florescence.
As warm as it’s been, it’s awfully tempting to begin putting the plants back outdoors. But I know it’s too soon. The wind would whip them to pieces. Except for the mother-in-law’s tongue. It’s tall, heavy leaves would stand stoically as usual through any weather. We know folks like that, don’t we?
Nature can show both its sublimity in the instances of plants and birds, and its destructive violence as experienced in tornadoes and floods.
This time, central Arkansas received only gusty winds. Places in mid-country weren’t so lucky. At one point, according to newspaper wire reports, storms arrived so fast between last Friday and early Saturday that as many as four million folks were within 25 miles of a tornado.
OTHER SUBJECTS: A recent news picture’s caption mentioned a turpentine farm. A new term for me, so I Googled it, discovering that in earlier years, yellow pine trees were cut into, the resin/sap dripped into boxes, which, when full, were taken to larger containers, then even larger ones and shipped to a distillery, thence to buyers. The online source prompted a poem: “on a dark night/ the turpentine farm becomes/ a cemetery” Cuts in the trees leave whitened resinous coatings that reflect eerily at night.
A term found in an obit ended up in my journal: “Quartermaster Striker (Korean War).” Striker was the enigmatic word. In the list of US Navy Enlisted Rates/Ratings, I found the meaning. I think.
“Sailors who go directly to a base, station or ship without specialized school training following recruit training are encouraged to select a career field. Through correspondence courses provided for self-study and on-the-job training (OJT), they may qualify for entry into a rating. This path is called "striking for rate." A seaman working in the deck department of a ship will by work assignment find herself most often in training for the deck rating of Boatswain Mate. Many "strikers" will venture into other departments to become a Yeoman, Damage Controlman or Gunnersmate as openings occur. Many technical rating fields are restricted to formal school graduates and thereby closed to "strikers." Having experienced the width and depth of Navy life, most "strikers" become excellent petty officers.” #