Rogue Tulips

We were traveling last spring and went through a town that had their annual Tulip Dig.  Have you ever been to one of these?  The town digs up the tulip bulbs, and the members of the community get to take the bulbs home, take care of them, and plant them in their own yards the following fall.

We were headed out to a wedding at the time and were not prepared to stop and dig tulips in our formal wear.  However, we went back that night to look at the empty beds and see if maybe, just maybe, some of those tulip bulbs had been overlooked.

There were no large bulbs left,  But when we looked closely at the garden beds, we found several teeny tiny overlooked bulbs.  And by teeny-tiny, I mean teeny tiny.  Many were smaller than a quarter and some were no larger than a dime.  I picked up the ones that I found, put them in a brown envelope, and stuck them in the back of the refrigerator until right around Halloween, when I planted them in the planter box in front of the house.  We covered the entire box with leaves, and then we put chicken wire over top of all to keep the neighborhood squirrels from feasting.

I had forgotten about them until earlier this month when they began to bloom!  They weren't large, but they are very showy.  Some of them look like they struggled to even be here this spring, but they showed up and brightened my day.

The forgotten, left behind bulbs produced the most amazing show I've ever seen.  I'll be pulling them soon.  Drying them out, and then putting them in a brown paper bag in the back of the refrigerator until Halloween, when I'll put them in a flower box once again and see what happens next year.

In the meantime, I'm very curious to see if the bulbs are any bigger this year than they were last year when I salvaged these forgotten little gems from the side of the road.  Maybe they've put off a few new little tubers that I can nurture (or ignore) through the next winter?

Opening Day

 Today is Opening Day of the 2026 Baseball season!

I love going to baseball games.  Not just for the game - but for the spectacle.  The mustard/ketchup/relish races.  The food, the people watching... everything is just so much fun!

Here in Baltimore, the Orioles are our home team.

Our favorite song is "Country Boy" by John Denver.  It was performed twice on the roof of the Orioles Dugout.  Once in the 1983 World Series and again in 1997 at Camden Yards, shortly before his death.

Today, in honor of the Orioles Opening Day, I present to you the Oriole Bird, dancing along to the sweet, sweet strains of John Denver.

Welcome SPRING!

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb?

There is an old weather proverb that proclaims if March comes in "like a lion", it will go out "like a lamb."

Way back when I was teaching, we used to track lion and lamb days during the month of March.  Warm, sunny days were considered to be lamb days.  Windy, cold, stormy days were considered to be lion days.  Every day, we would talk about the weather and track the forecast.  March has always been a very changeable month for weather as the seasons change.  The daily swings in temperature can give you whiplash.

Back in the day, we would create a bar graph, and compare whether we had more lion or lamb days, how many more, how many less, make our predictions for the next day... I always enjoyed those graphs.  I have no idea about the kids, but it was a highlight I looked forward to every spring.

It has been many years since I last taught in a classroom, but this March has made me think deeply about those days and the charts.  While I have not gone so far as to create a lion/lamb bar graph, I have been keeping a running tally on a post-it on my desk. So far, in Central Maryland, we have had more Lion Days.  Days that start out sunny and end with accumulating snow on the ground.  Brisk Days with high winds, rain... so much rain.  Tornadoes. It's been a very weatherful spring here!

Looking out at the 10 day forecast, it looks like we should end with a Lamb Day.  What about you?  What kind of spring have you had so far?  I know parts of the country have been consumed by wildfire, and other parts are underwater. I'm fortunate in that we seem to be in between the extremes.

The Farmer's Market

Have you noticed that more and more farmer's markets are opening up as the growing season progresses?  I hit up two separate farmer's markets this weekend, saw my favorite farmers and picked up some wonderful produce!

You can only get these tasty roots in the spring and fall.  I LOVE BEETS!!

Asparagus.  This won't be around for much longer.  It doesn't even freeze well.

I picked up lettuce, spinach, and kale, too, but they don't make as nice of a picture.  Lots of green leaves in a bag....  But, they were picked fresh that morning!  I picked up some rhubarb, too.  Nothing screams spring like Strawberry - Rhubarb Cobbler.

Flower baskets galore!  I love the colors in this one!

More flowers!  I love their faces!

I picked up herbs, too.  A lot of herbs.  We filled a large pot.  I have basil, thyme, oregano, and chives.  Daughter put lavender in another pot.  I'm still searching for dill.  I'm not certain where I'm going to find it, though.

The biggest problem for the farmers is the very wet weather we've been having.  It's been hard to get stuff into the ground.  And you know, once the rain stops, it is going to be hot and muggy.  I hope there's enough of a window for the farmers to get their crops in this year.

I worked on this post yesterday morning.  Last night, Channel 2 News in Baltimore ran this story about the weather and the impact upon local crops:  http://www.wbaltv.com/news/wacky-weather-knocks-out-summer-crops-in-westminster/39573016.  I can't get the actual video to share in my window, but if you click on the link, you'll see the story. 

As I look out my window, I'm watching yet another gully washer pour down yet more rain upon our very soaked ground.  I'm beginning to get a little worried about the summer crops now...

What about you?  Have you managed to get anything in the ground yet this year?

Cherry Blossoms

In 1912, the country of Japan gave the United States a gift of 3,020 Cherry Trees.  The Cherry Blossom is believed to be a symbol equated with "the evanescence of human life and epitomizes the transformation of Japanese culture throughout the ages."  (source: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm, accessed 3/30/2016)

These trees were planted along the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River, and extend from the Lincoln Memorial, down to the Jefferson Memorial and around Haines Point.

Ever since my family moved to the greater DC Metro area in 1979, we have made a point of going into see the Cherry Blossoms every few years.  We've taken picnic dinners and eaten under the trees in the moonlight, we've taken our young children who were bouncing with energy and enthusiasm and ran from tree to tree to tree, and we've taken out of town friends and family down there, some of whom were astounded by the beauty, and some of whom were just bored out of their minds at the thought of spending a day walking around trees, only to be awed by the sheer enormity of the blooms once they got down there.

This year, we hit Peak Bloom on Friday.  The trees were delightful, but the mall was packed!  We saw a couple getting married under the trees, and we saw people of all ages and nationalities, stopped under the trees and staring at the overhead canopy of trees in absolute awe.  The joy of spring, and the peacefulness of the trees - in the middle of all the insanity that is Washington DC was something to behold.  We walked over 8 miles Friday afternoon and evening.  We parked in a lot in Virginia, and walked across one of the bridges into DC and visited the monuments along the mall before finishing our tour of the cherry blossoms. 

The view from the reflecting pool up to the Lincoln Memorial.  Funny story here - there's a line of people on the top step, all turned around and taking pictures.  We took daughter up to the top - she's never been inside - and we almost couldn't get through the crush of people.  NOBODY was actually inside, looking around.

The view down the mall.  You see the reflecting pool straight ahead, the Washington Monument, and the Capital Building in the distance.  If you've never been to the Mall before, the Smithsonian Museums are between the Washington Monument and the Capital building.  From where I'm standing, the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial and the Nurses' Memorial are off to my left.  The Martin Luther King Memorial is to my right.  Just barely ahead at the end of the sidewalk, you can see the columns for the WW 2 Memorial.  It was a gorgeous day - one of the couples we saw getting married was at the bottom of the reflecting pool - just off to the right, out of the frame of this picture.

The WW 2 Memorial.  Words can't quite describe this.  The names of people from every state who died in the Pacific Theater are on the left, and the Atlantic on the right.  The relief sculpture along the wall as you enter the area depict the lives of the Greatest Generation as they were called to service and left their homes.

Cherry Blossoms!

And still more blossoms!  Down along the Tidal Basin.  Do you see the cherry trees on the other side of the basin?  They're those fluffy puffballs... absolutely gorgeous, and they smelled heavenly!

A look down the hill at the blossoms and the people.

Under the canopy!  I wish I had brought a picnic dinner!  This would have been a great place to just sit, eat, and people watch!