Tracking Spring

Based on the first two days of April, if you go for these almanac-like cliches, we are in for a florapalooza of a May here - assuming topsoil and plant material do not totally wash away. I guess technically we only had an official 3/4 inch recorded here in Seattle, but I'd swear I drove through more than an inch during April Fool's RT drive south on I-5 to meet up with sister-in-law, her SO, and daughter replete with two Blue Healers now, including pup. Nasty driving. As Bob would have it, "the wind howled like a hammer." Not to mention "the highway is for gamblers, better use your sense."

But out in the country the wild creatures are compelled to face down the weather. They are a lot more tuned in to the minimum needed to survive than I am. Tracy Chapman's words "there is fiction in between you and reality" are ever-so-true.

The big seeds I put in the ground last weekend (peas and favas) are probably fine, but I'm concerned that those tiny little guys only 1/4" deep may be a washout.

Mercifully, today was quite an improvement. It was a little drippy when I caught the bus out of (down) town at lunch in search of Lysichiton (skunk cabbage) blooms - my personal Spring tell-tale (my toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot-heals to be wanderin'). I wasn't going that far - I have several season-monitoring stations within a 20-minute bus ride of downtown. These are "natural areas," though not necessarily truly bucolic - today's in particular featured far more traffic noise than I remembered. I walked back to the office after a successful skunk cabbage sighting. We can move on now. No fences facing. Okay, I was pretty sure I spotted a great patch of the great yellow/green-glowing stuff aside I-5 the other day - this was just data validation. Spring is officially here for me (never mind the fact that I am toying with adding swim fins and a snorkle to my tote-bag).

Of course the conditions likely have been and may continue to be far more unspeakable where many of you are. Believe me, I am not gloating. For one thing, I wouldn't dare, considering we had snow flurries only a week ago.

In short, I am upbeat and hopeful, stopping short of ebullient, on Spring and, I guess, larger matters as well.