Our Pink Blossoms

Truth be told, I’ve never really been one to walk around outside in the yard just to snap 600 pictures of a gnarly old tree.

Until now, that is.

See, we have this incredible crab apple tree out front that–when the stars align just right–will one day be green and plain and overnight, will explode into this magical, cotton-candy-pink creation that literally takes your breath away.

No kidding. We’ve actually had people stop their cars in the middle of the road and tell us how beautiful our whole street is…

because of this one tree. But look long and hard, because it will only last a couple of days and then, the petals fade and blow away.

Funny thing is, that we’d taken this pretty thing nearly for granted for a couple of years. You know, “Oh, look–the tree’s pink again,” that sort of thing, until one time when it just didn’t ever bloom…at all.

We thought maybe it was a every-other-year type thing.

Then the next Spring we had a hard frost and when nothing blossomed in the yard anywhere, we figured the cold was to blame.

Then last April, we wondered out loud if we had done something wrong or if the tree was old and giving up, or what could possibly be the matter. Almost as if it was trying to soothe our worries, a few scant blossoms appeared…a bare handful, here and there.

So this year, we watched and waited, anxious to see if our tree still had it, or not. And to our surprise, and relief, one day we woke up to all of this…

and this…

and this.

Oh, those delicate, tissue flowers, that beautiful, perfect shade of pink–how we’ve missed you!

Welcome, welcome back.

Snow Day

I wore capris yesterday.

The windows were thrown open…

all over the house.

I kicked off my sandals and rolled up my sleeves in the middle of teaching class…

because, it was just…

too–dang–hot.

Dear Mother Nature…

We’re confused.

Is it Spring yet?

First Fire

Normally, we wouldn’t be getting the fire pit out until after Memorial Day. You know, when it magically becomes “barbeques season.” Who makes up these rules anyway?

But Daney-boy came over with a nice, fresh bag of marshmallows and inspired us to be complete and utter rebels. Out we went in the dead of night to toast those little beggars. Oh, and I was ready too. I had a lovely package of Fudge Striped cookies–my personal favorite for making Blondie S’mores…instead of graham cracker/candy bar ones.

My favorite–that is–until I had my marshmallows toasty brown and ready for their new cookie/chocolate sandwich, and I quickly tore the package open and found…

this.

Looks like SOMEbody took a hammer to my package of cookies…or threw them on the ground…

about a hundred times. Obviously, dark and sinister forces were at work here. Who could do such a foul thing? Who could we call for help? Sadly, I’m not aware of any Broken Cookie Task Force at our local police department so we were pretty-much hung out to dry there.

Luckily, being the stalwart, sturdy mountain folk that we are…we came up with a plan B…

that…involved…

oh, FINE…

graham crackers.  Pfffft.

Sheesh.

Happy May Day!

Back in the old days–when May 1st would come around, all the grade school kids would parade out on to the playground and each class would do a well rehearsed dance for all the parents. We practiced for weeks during our regular recess time so there was a ton of stress to do it perfectly…which of course, we did. The only hitch would be if the record–being played over the P.A. system would skip and no one would have a clue what to do. That was funny to watch…not so funny to be involved in.

Couple of things of note in this picture–

First: Being at the very end of the line means that I was officially the tallest girl in the fifth grade. Wowww–that was a big pain because it also meant, at that age that I was taller than all the boys too.  And those are some mighty big feet for a 10 year old. Again, I say wowww.

Second: Check out all those “bobby socks.” They were all the thing…you must trust me on this.

Third: I positively loved this skirt. It had cute little baskets with puppies on it. I was teased mercilessly whenever I wore it, because, well…you don’t see any other skirts with, you know…puppies, do you? Didn’t think so. But I liked it anyway, so when I was feeling particularly brave enough to be laughed at, I’d wear it.

Lastly, after all these years, I can still remember the names of the girls in line by me. Skeptical? Well, here goes:

Me, Peggy, Estelle, Lori Takiuchi, Gloria Estrada, Michi Jones, Donna Imigawa, and Valerie. Don’t you think I deserve a prize for that? I accept Cheetos and Symphony bars at the door…shamelessly.

Anyone besides me remember May Day dances at school? Tell me about it…please.

Happy May Day everyone!

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