C'mon Spring !

Spring is on the way ... the daylight hours are getting longer :)  Trees are going through their annual state of confusion which they show by alternating the swelling of their buds with their holding-back syndrome.  Melodies float through my mind more copiously than in winter.  A huge flock of robins landed in my yard day before yesterday (I think they fled New England's recent weather) and they were visibly and audibly happy that there is no snow on the ground here in Knoxville!  My daffodils are up about three inches.  The sun is at that cusp-of-spring angle :)  The moon was beautifully full recently in Leo (it's always full in the sign directly across from where the sun is located ... and the sun has been in Aquarius).   

Life blossoms and renews in Spring and, perhaps on that note, I've created a blog entitled Clara's Animal Ministry Resource; it is at http://www.animalministry.blogspot.com.  Hope my readers will visit CAMR; it has nice animal pictures, some lovely profound quotes, and information about stellar animal advocacy people.

Happy Pre-Spring !

  

Whether The Weather ...

When I lived in New England, I thought of the month of April as the portal to Spring; often April was moody and deliberately disappointed me ... and would bring a huge snow storm during the month's first week. When I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in October of 1986, I didn't know what to expect from Winter (I am using upper case here for seasonal names because the seasons' dramatic, mischievous, and sometimes devious qualities resemble personalities). That December, Knoxville had balmy temperatures and frequent warm rains.  Wonderful, I thought ... this beats those horrible Connecticut weather conditions.  Then, in April, a huge and week-long snow and ice storm paralyzed the area.  All the colorful tulips and daffodils stood frozen, encased in ice for days and then turned to mush when the freeze finally yielded to more moderate temperatures.   There went, for me, any semblance of predictability for southern weather.  

Recently we have had weeks of very low temperatures, with a couple of incidences of thawing days for good measure. Today I look out the windows and see a snowy landscape with more snow still coming down. The birds jockey for position on my bird feeder which is stocked with seeds and suet. I gathered myself away from the window when my favorite cardinal repeatedly was bullied off the feeder by a much larger bird whom I think is a starling.  "There is plenty for all" I keep saying aloud to myself; it doesn't matter ... they are just being birds.  

Speaking of birds, the day before yesterday (one of the aforementioned thawing days), a huge flock of robins was in my yard and treetops ... and the birds were on the ground searching the grasses for insects.  I think they were robins who migrated back here too soon.  Or maybe they were northern robins who got a late start on coming south.  Anyway, I thought of them today and wondered how they are faring in this intense wintry weather. Remember that old ironic expression "This is for the birds"?   One bird flew into my garage today during the moment or two I had the door opened.  He flew around in a couple of circles and then went back outside.   

Day before yesterday, my herb seed catalog arrived in the mail ... from Horizon Herbs (a wonderful company). The months, the seasons, even the years, are like revolving doors ... with each revolution bringing some newness into the mix.  Years ago I was taught that this newness that is introduced in each cyclic recapitulation is called "epi-genesis".   One more month of winter, folks.  Here in the south, my southern portal to Spring is late February and the advent of March.  So help is on the way and before we know it, it will be time to break out those breezy, happy warm weather clothes.

    

Yowie-Zowie --

Spring is here! Or maybe it's Sprummer -- because it is hot. The weather here in east Tennessee is erratic and interesting. You just never know what it really will be, until it arrives :)

Mad Moments –

While basking yesterday in the warmth and comfort of the sun, my memory of the weather we'd had a couple of days earlier seemed almost surreal. It had been pretty weird; my lilac bush was wrapped up in a bedsheet like a mummy to protect its flowers from freezing and I’d covered a bunch of other plants. Tuesday was the epitome of weather weirdness. It was like a maniacal strobe and effects machine gone awry – with rotating bouts of sunshine, hail, darkened skies, and snowfall. This afternoon, we are watching the advance of severe thunder storms and tornadoes, as they make their way across Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

Maybe Nature needs to play sometimes – to have her mad moments, just like the rest of us. It's as good an explanation as any.

Rainy Day Blues --

Drought-parched East Tennessee got three days of nice rain about two weeks ago. It reminded me of a week during early July when we’d had a day or so of rain and I’d written (the Comfort Of) Rainy Day Blues. Blues, of course, is the music that gives expression to a soulful state of being. I find blues music very comforting, reassuring, and empathetic, especially at a primal emotional level – that place where my innermost feelings reside.

I’ve got a Native American rain stick that, in times past, I’ve used to "call" the rain. Wouldn’t it be nice if the weather would "even out"; you know, re-distribute itself so there wouldn’t be floods or droughts? The concept is grinning mischievously at us at the moment; all those coastal storms and not a drop of rain here in these parts of East Tennessee. Well, in a Utopian world, it will all straighten out. I’ll borrow some lines from my song where it says "... I’ll sit here by the window, Let my thoughts drift quietly, With the Rainy Day Blues".

Mid-April Cold In East Tennessee

Here in Knoxville, we managed to avoid a replay of last year’s April hard freeze (when every tree’s new leaves and flowers totally froze, turned brown and crispy, and fell to the ground). Following a couple of weeks of balmy, warm weather, it turned raw, rainy and cold this past week; the rain was followed by several nights of freeze warnings, as a cold weather system settled in.

So out of the closets came the bedsheets, beach towels, and quilts to cover the azalea, lilac, mock orange, newly-planted blueberry bush, and flowers. Into the house came the hanging baskets of flowers and the houseplants that had been so happy to go back outside on the porch when the balmy weather had showed up two weeks before. My house looked like a jungle for three days with all the plants camping in! Although we got awfully close to freezing temperatures outdoors, thankfully, things hovered just above that mark and plant-life was spared ... even my treasured smoke tree (which was too large to cover).

While I’m talking about plants, I’ll mention that I’m looking for a good home for a two-year-old maple tree; I grew this tree from its spinner seed. It’s in a grower’s pot, is about 3 feet tall and very nicely shaped. I have no space in my yard for another shade tree. This tree would like to get into the ground this season.

On The Threshold Of A New Year ~

What We Bring, What We Take ...

Of course New Year’s Day brings resolutions, hangovers, and football – I’m not endorsing those things, but they are part of the reality :) A new year always ushers in a feeling of new hope, even (as I mention in a previous post) in the absence of optimism. I've read that economic experts are forecasting continued difficulties in the economy and all its ripple effects, increasing personal debt and credit problems, and out-of-reach health care. Someone told me this morning that "the struggle to survive is difficult, worse, not better" (than it was previously). Personally, I’m trying to renew and rediscover a balance. It’s a balance that will, hopefully, include hope, realism, effort, reason, resourcefulness, activism, compassion, music (always) and moments of inner peace.

Today ...

Rain, rain (don’t ) go away (yet). Today it is raining galore here in Knoxville. Sweet, sweet rain, better late than never. The local creeks again have water in them, thankfully. It’s a cold rain, as the temps are in the low 40s. I’m snug here in the loft of my house – this is where I come to write, think, read, ponder. The rain sounds nice on the metal roof!

One More Year Of Bush & Cheney ...

It is outrageous that they are still in office and that their power base is so pervasive that they are completely insulated, as they blunder and plunder on. I’d prefer to be wrong, but I think they’d like to enlarge the war (Iran) as sort of a last-ditch political fun adventure "feather in their cap" (I’m quite serious). I think these guys are playing the country and the world like a crazy-style chess board.

Forgiveness ...

I’m able to forgive people who personally hurt me, even if they do it deliberately – maybe especially if they do it deliberately; it then becomes more important to forgive them and reclaim my power. "There is power in forgiveness" (it’s not a lame old phrase). The forgiver benefits much more than the forgivee. The New Year is a good time for that. I’d put it right up there with the resolve to begin or renew an exercise program or a health quest or the search for/receptivity to a love partner.

While we’re at it, let’s forgive ourselves, too, for whatever goof-ups, shortcomings, and/or serious mistakes for which we feel responsible. Letting go of the past is essential, especially if there is any residual "victim" status. Clinging to past hurts only impedes growth and healing. I’m not saying "forgive and forget" (I think that’s an unwise cliche); there are some things we need to remember in order to be vigilant. But forgive ... and be empowered in the new year.

Older Posts ...

If you’re visiting my blog for the first time, I invite you to scroll down and click on "older posts"; they go back to August 2007. I’ve recently edited and deleted some, but the posts I consider my best are still there. You’ll need to scroll and click a couple of times to access all of them.

Raise Your Glass ...

To all of us, to each of my readers, I wish a new year of happiness, compassion, justice, progress, material comfort, spiritual seeking, good health, understanding, love, and – above all – peace!

And now I’m joining Buddy, my piano, and we’re going to write a blues tune ... it'll be slow blues, the way we like it – nice!