Forsythia, March 29, 2025

 

Forsythia are one of the first things to bloom in my yard each year. (Daffodils were already in bloom a week or so ago, but I didn't get any photos and they're probably spent already.) When I came home early Saturday morning I saw that the buds on the bush by my back steps were ready to burst open. Saturday's temperatures in the 70s gave them the push they needed to open completely - many of them, at least.

Soon the irises will blossom, and the cherry trees, and the azaleas, and the rhododendrons. Maybe I'll try to document them once again.

The crocuses of 2025

I am realizing that the crocuses at our family gravesite are a good indicator of the arrival of Spring and the changing Springtime climate. Eighteen years ago I was surprised to see them poking up by March 28, while this year they are already in bloom by March 18th, 2025.

(Note the simple solar vigil candle above. That's a spent wax candle with the top part of a dollar store solar stake light stuck inside. The bottom third of the candle is weighed down with clear glass beads, also from a dollar store.) 

I've decided to add a "Crocus" tag to all of my posts featuring the crocuses. At least one of them needs some work - photos loaded directly from Facebook have a way of becoming unviewable - but this should be easy (if tedious) to fix.

Greetings

Two years ago tomorrow, six days after she died, we buried my mom. But today, another bit of her has passed away.

For two years I have resisted changing the message on our house phone's voicemail. It was just her saying her name - with a touch of annoyance, because it took us about six tries to get it recorded. Yesterday I got a message from my phone company that they had modified the voice messaging system, and I would now have to record a new greeting. So from now on callers to our house will hear me, not her. Her voice is gone.