Spring

It is officially Spring.  The toes are out of hibernation, the pollen is out in force, and the weather seems getting closer to that oh-so-constant summer feeling that will last from here until next October.  A few weeks ago I passed this field near my house and thought it was wild and totally surreal because of the bright yellow blooms that were carpeting the field as far as my eyes could see.  There were cows grazing and bursts of green amid the yellow that were normal enough to remind me that this was actually a field and not something from the mind of a screenwriter penning Inception II or something. 

Life's like that though, isn't it?  One minute we're riding in our cars and then we're caught off guard when we realize that there is a rainbow visible through our windshield...and we think...WOW.   Maybe you're looking for leprachauns and pots of gold, but me?  I think of a rainbow as a promise that I am not the one in control. 

Sometimes I forget that, you know.

I love how we can be enjoying a perfectly nice April day, and then suddenly we see something like, well...THIS.  Okay, to be fair, this was actually taken more than a year ago in my backyard.  FINE, it wasn't taken in April, either.  But I do know that if it isn't at least ninety-five degrees outside, most Southerners think that they are enduring this.--->







One of the wonderful things about Spring is Easter.  I realize that a lot of us get all caught up in the chocolate bunnies, eggs, chocolate, Easter egg hunts, chocolate, Easter baskets, chocolate, jelly beans, chocolate, and Easter dresses and forget the true significance of the season.  But I will admit that I do love the creativity that often accompanies the members of my family when they are left to their own devices.  The eggs below...were served to us one Easter lunch...because deviled eggs are a staple!  Even if eating them also means ingesting a serious amount of food coloring or egg dye, I know not which (nor did I much care).
 

Why limit the Easter egg dye to just the shell? :)

One of my favorite aspects of Spring is the excitement I get when I see new flowers showing up at the local Home Depot, Lowe's or in this particular case...Costco.  (I know, weird?!)  Seeing as I've had the Foo Fighters song "Marigold" stuck in my head all day...I had to photograph these...

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DkupICMLew84%26feature%3Dshare&h=5b278

(Oh, you don't know what "Marigold" from Foo Fighters sounds like?  Hit the link above...)

Of course, what Spring really reminds me is that I'm going to be headed to the beach at some point in time over the next few months.  In January, a sweet friend invited us to celebrate Jill's 21st birthday at the beach...and in July I know that I'll be back for the annual beach trip with the folks in Texas (and France).  I truly love having something to look forward to...especially when the temperature is Hades Lite and the humidity is somewhere near 100%.

For most of us, though...Spring means the beginning of cleaning up the yard...trimming bushes...mowing the grass...and planting flowers.  I don't know about you...but I always have illusions of grandeur when it comes to flowers.  I seem to want to believe that I can grow something that looks like this...
As if.

Or this...actually I took this picture at the University of Alabama last Spring while I was wandering around while Jill was in class.  Want to know that you look like a Mom?  Walk around campus with a camera taking pictures of flowers...in Crocs. 

Of course, while I'm on the subject of flowers...you knew I wouldn't let the opportunity pass to put one more photo of "Breathless Beauty" from FTD out here.  She cost $70.  The brown tint on the baby roses isn't showing up in the photo.  I called those the "Hugh Hefners" since they were in the arrangement with some flowers that were entirely too young.  And what was up with that greenery?   Okay...moving on...

Right now, you are probably wondering why there is a photo of fireworks in the middle of a post about Spring...but that's because the Senior Party is having fireworks this year.  Which I personally think totally rocks. 

I don't know what Spring means to you.  I don't know if you have a green thumb, will spend the majority of it at a ballfield or at the lake or beach, or are just trying to deal with the aftereffects of pollen.  I do know that Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal.  We plant now with the hope that in a few months we will reap the benefits.  I don't know about you...but I'm still planting tomatoes, trimming the roses...and believing that this might be the year that we have a bumper crop.

But even if we don't...at least part of the wonder of Spring is the promise that we just might.  Hey, maybe I should try this field...it seems to be fairly prolific.