Pretty Pinks

Pretty Pinks

The daffodils are now in full bloom in my backyard. Such a beautiful display. Vibrant yellow flowers brighten up even a cloudy day. The purple periwinkle flowers add their own vibrance in the groundcover that ambles through various spots in the garden. Soon nurseries will be advertising flats of blossoming plants to begin the spring planting season.

I appreciate the rejuvenation of the outside perennials each year yet I don’t want to neglect something that has been blooming all through the winter – my African Violet. It is an indoor plant that has been putting out pretty pink blossoms for much of the year.

I don’t take my African Violet for granted. I know it needs proper tending. The plant needs light, though not direct sunlight, so the north-facing windowsill where it resides is perfect. It likes water but not too much. When the soil seems dry, I give the plant a drink. The recommendation is to water it from the bottom so as not to get the leaves wet. I usually do though sometimes it gets a good soak from the top. No doubt the nurseries wouldn’t approve but my sweet plant doesn’t seem to mind. If the leaves appear a little droopy, I give the plant some food and it perks right up.

All living things have their particular requirements. I value this plant and want it to thrive so I give it what it needs. I value relationships and want them to thrive, too. I try to nurture them in ways that will keep them strong and healthy. We may not all need the same things but care and attention is something everyone – and everything – can benefit from. My African Violet seems to like the interest I take in it. Surely friends and family deserve as much.

Here are tips for caring for African Violets:

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/africanviolet.html

Vernal Equinox

Vernal Equinox

The vernal equinox has just passed, the time when the sun shines right on the equator and the hours of day and night are just about equal. The March or Spring equinox brings increasing daylight, warming temperatures, and rejuvenating plants and flowers.

The crocuses here have already faded but the daffodils are just now flowering. Their leaves have been hinting at blooms for a while and the buds have been teasing but here are the blossoms - at last. And today it is snowing.

It has snowed in late March and early April before so this is not that unusual but it isn’t necessarily welcome. Most of us are looking forward to the temperature moving out of the snow zone. While we are eager for the season to change, we have to remember that the equinox is the cusp of the seasons, the turning point, not the closing of a door; the year holds on to a little of the past even as it turns toward the future.

The daffodils may huddle into themselves for a bit longer but they will return with vibrant yellow flowers and Spring will assert itself. The snow will be gone, early season plants will poke out of the ground, trees will start to green up; there are buds already on the branches.

Like the changing seasons, we tend to hold on to what is familiar, too. But while we honor the past, let’s not close the door on what is unfolding before us. Let’s enjoy Nature’s changes as we move into a new space. And let us be open to the promise of growth in our gardens, in our thinking, in ourselves.

Happy Spring!
 http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

Herb Planting Time

Herb Planting Time

I have been buying basil in my favorite Whole Foods market all winter. A package of the hydroponic herb can last several weeks, sometimes longer. It is one of my favorite spices. So now that the weather is hinting at Spring, I am beginning to think of planting some in my garden.

I already have mint back there. It comes back every year. At first I had planted mint in the ground but it spread so fast and so far that it threatened to be the only thing growing in that space. I dug up as much as I could and replanted it in a large pot, which gives me more than enough leaves for my needs. I still get outcrops of mint where I least expect it but it is manageable.

This year I think I will make an attempt to grow my own basil outside. My friend’s neighbor, who owns an Italian restaurant, has a virtual nursery of basil plants in pots outside his townhouse. It doesn’t seem that hard to do. I would be in basil heaven to have so much of that herb growing in my garden.

I am also thinking of planting cilantro, which I absolutely love. Cilantro, like basil, has many uses – in sauces, salads, sprinkled into soups. And the simplest of all is to add some to any kind of sandwich for a distinctive lift. 

Yes, I will plant herbs this Spring. I don’t need a whole lot, just a bit. They are subtle tastes but their presence always makes me take notice. I think they will be a good reminder to pay attention, to be in the present while eating, a very Yogic concept. Maybe that little bit of herbal awareness will generalize and spice up the rest of my day.

 The basics of basil and other herbs - definition, planting, harvesting, drying,and more:

 http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/herbs/ne208hrb.htm  

A Touch of Spring

A Touch of Spring

Yesterday was sunny with a hint of warm air. The forecast for today is for 60 degrees. Daylight savings had us setting our clocks ahead to allow more daylight into our day. We are on the cusp of Spring.

The change of seasons will no doubt be welcome though it isn’t something to be taken for grated. I remember the year we had an early April snowstorm. The temperature may be pleasing now, yet we had snow only three days ago. Subtle reminders not to anticipate Mother Nature’s moods.

The female cardinal sits on the branch of a snow-covered bush after last Friday’s snowfall and looks out, waiting, I suppose, for a good nesting opportunity. She likes to build her nest in dense shrubbery or the branches of small trees. The shrubbery hasn’t started to leaf though, and nest protection is rare. That’s probably why I haven’t seen any nests in my backyard yet, though March is traditional nesting time.

I actually like these transitional times, especially winter/spring, which touches my essence. The air is infused with a sense of movement, a shifting of energy, that I find invigorating. Flocks of robins, the time-honored springtime harbingers, are everywhere, creating even more anticipation. The air vibrates with birdsong and mating calls. The crocuses are popping up from their sleep-states to check out the new season. Soon Violets, Lily-of-the-Valley, Lilacs, and Hyacinths will add their fragrances and colors to the scene. Ah, Spring. Time for us all to bloom.

Just the facts:

About seasons -

http://weather-facts.com/seasons-facts.php

About cardinals -

http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinal.html#sthash.U4Hvg5JC.dpbs

About robins –

http://www.arkive.org/american-robin/turdus-migratorius/

Rainbow on the Wall

Rainbow on the Wall

I was reading an article in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer about Winnie-the-Pooh. I remember the Pooh books. Many nights were spent with my kids tucked in and cozy as we followed Christopher Robin and the adventures of Pooh Bear, Tigger, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and little Roo.

There is actually a place in the English countryside that was the birthplace of those wonderful stories by A.A. Milne, a magical place for him and his son. They found a spot in nature that allowed them to transcend the everyday and let their imaginations fly. Milne looked at the hillside, the bog, the trees, and the woods and found possibilities for stories and exciting explorations.

Nature is a source of pleasure for the senses. It often delights me with the brilliant colors of flowers, the beauty of its myriad birds, the rustling of fall leaves. We tend to think of nature as existing only outside but it has a way of engaging us no matter where we are.

Recently, I found a rainbow inside my house. The morning sunlight had come in through the pane on our front door, bounced off the beveled glass in the hall cabinet, and projected a rainbow onto the wall at just the position where I would see it as I came down the stairs. I gasped and felt my whole spirit open up. I immediately imagined fairies giggling behind me, a story in the making.

Finding the unexpected in the usual energizes us. It challenges our brains and helps us expand in creative ways. A rainbow is always arresting but having one inside the house was certainly a perception-teaser.

The rainbow on the wall didn’t last long but it set up all that was to come in a special light. I shared the experience with friends throughout the day and found that it elicited joy in others, as well. Was it a cosmic reminder to see the grandeur in the ordinary? To see it, perhaps, in ourselves?

Take a peek at Pooh corner:

http://www.philly.com/philly/travel/20130217_The_Pooh_corner_of_the_world.html

Snowstorm!

Snowstorm!

Another incredible storm has passed and it was a whopper! So much snow. Our part of South Jersey lucked out. We had just a few inches, which quickly melted as the temperature warmed. But that wasn’t the norm. Long Island was hit hard, again, with 2-3 feet of snow in many towns, not a welcome occurrence after Hurricane Sandy. Up further into Connecticut, the storm laid down even more snow, forty inches in Hamden and close to that in Milford. Many towns in Massachusetts had about two feet, though several counties had more than that.

Our daughter-in-law took this photo looking through the screen at the beginning of the snowstorm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before the cars were completely covered and the accumulation had risen to over two-feet high. By the end of the day all that was seen were white lumps hunching up by the no longer visible curbs.

So what do we make of this Blizzard Nemo, as it is being called? Is it a freak happenstance or part of a pattern? And what about the frequency of recent tsunamis, wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding, and the increase of our global temperature by about a degree, which is no small amount?

I know there are people who call global warming a sham but the evidence is proving otherwise. It is not a subject that can be cozily determined by political preference. Photos show the glaciers are in retreat. Statistics point up the numbers of record-breaking storms that have been battering the earth in the past several years.

It seems like the right time to look at our environment in a responsible way. Let’s put aside selfish profiting and dogmatic inflexibility. We are at a point where we cannot undo much of what has happened but we needn’t continue our global disregard. We can cooperate for the benefit of all, and for respect for this magnificent planet we call home.

What does Global Warming mean?

http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/fcons/fcons1.asp

Polar Bears are in danger – but they are not the only ones:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/arctic-bears/%20the-melting-arctics-impact-on-itsecosystem/780/

Tree Down

Tree Down

Trees are lovely assets to any community. They provide shade in the hot weather. They offer shelter to squirrels and birds. They come in a great variety, which adds interest to the landscape, and their height graces their surroundings with dignity. Yet we hardly think about what they offer, until they fall.  

One day this past week, a tree along a busy street came down, the result of a raging, gusty wind that swept through South Jersey. The trunk reached out from the curb’s edge and stretched across the sidewalk and over the homeowner’s front lawn, spreading its branches onto the shingled roof of the house. Every driver that passed by stopped; it wasn’t something to ignore.

This was not the only tree to fall. Others landed on houses and cars, took down power lines and left families without electricity. 

What made me pay particular attention to this tree, besides the fall itself, was how it was uprooted. The curb was undisturbed. There were hardly any roots extending from the trunk and the roots that were visible on the bottom were small and shallow, seemingly incapable of holding up such a large structure. You could not tell from looking at the tree that it had no firm foundation. How could it have developed a strong, expansive root system hemmed in, as it were, by cement?

In retrospect, it was surprising that it had remained upright for as long as it did. But there is strength built into the genetic code of the tree, even if we can’t see it. And there is strength inherent in the human code, as well. Trees and people start small yet given the right environment in which to grow, they become powerful. And that strength can overcome obstacles, seen and unseen.

The tree held on as long as it possibly could, given the surrounding conditions. I admire that, as I admire and appreciate the tenacity of people surviving, and often thriving, despite difficult circumstances. Strength is not always visible on the outside but it exists in all of us, to be respected and valued and remembered when it is gone.

For more of the story, written by Carol Comegno for the Courier-Post, and more photos:  

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20130201/NEWS01/302010038/Strong-gusts-down-trees-utility-lines-throughout-S-J-