Joshua Tree…flowers for Ukraine

Friday flowers…daisies

Once the weather and our health had finally improved, his parents and I took my grandson to the park where his perpetual energy found a better outlet than in a small, two-bedroom apartment. There I discovered signs of spring, one of which were a number of these small daisies in patches throughout the grass. I felt much as Edna did, only substituting “photograph” for “touch.” I fell far short of a hundred, but they certainly made me glad.

“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.”
― Edna St. Vincent Millay

Friday flowers…spring

Some things are not improved by words. Welcome to April.

FOTD 4.1.22

WQW #12: spring with e. e. cummings

This is my favorite poem about spring and even though the Arizona world is rarely mud-luscious or puddle-wonderful, it still evokes spring for me. And I’m going attempt to find e. e. cummings quotes or poems to go with all my photos for Marsha’s WQW challenge for this week.

in just spring

 
in Just-
spring          when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles          far          and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far          and             wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
         the
                  goat-footed
balloonMan          whistles
far
and
wee

Well, I don’t know if this balloonMan is goat-footed (or whether the balloonPerson is either), but it is a balloon even though not the sort e. e. had in mind.

(all the merry little birds are
flying in the floating in the
very spirits singing in 
are winging in the blossoming)  e.e.cummings

(One of the things that drives me mad about WP is trying to get poems to format properly and the only way I know to do it puts them on the grey background. Sorry about that.)

This bird may not be flying right now, but I’m sure it’s quite merry despite the fact that its mother obviously never mentioned that standing on your food while eating it (or at any other time) is not really the thing. But spirits are singing and there’s definitely blossoming going on. 🙂

“Then it was spring; and in spring anything may happen. Absolutely anything.” ~ E. E. Cummings

Spring makes the wall finally warm enough to tempt these two to make their spring debut.

And still the mad magnificent herald Spring assembles beauty from forgetfulness with the wild trump of April:witchery of sound and odour drives the wingless thing man forth in the bright air. ~e. e. cummings

It also drove this winged bee into an ecstasy of headfirst pollen-gathering. Our girls used to sometimes say something caused an ecstasy spasm and that’s exactly what I saw here as he flitted from flower to flower. In fact, spring gives me an ecstasy spas. (Note: going headfirst into food probably qualifies as not being quite the thing either.)

when faces called flowers float out of the ground
and breathing is wishing and wishing is having—
but keeping is downward and doubting and never
—it’s april(yes, april;my darling)it’s spring! 
 ~e.e.cummings from "when faces called flowers"

These trumpet cacti don’t flower often and the flowers begin to wilt by the end of the first day but oh, the glory while they bloom!! We were blessed with three rounds of flowers our first year here. A sighting makes me grab my camera and rush outside immediately. Hurrah for spring!!

Announcing spring

for Life in Colour: purple

Friday flowers…dynamic duo

The Palo Verde trees are once again blooming, making the one of my favorite things to see at the Preserve.

And since we’re almost at an end for “yellow” as the color challenge of the month, I’ll throw this in for good measure, even though I don’t know what it is. The plant in the background is an aloe vera.

for Life in Colour: yellow and Cee’s FOTD

Monday walk…Marching into spring

Spring in the desert isn’t exactly like spring in most other places. There are no swaths of wildflowers, no green grass everywhere. Spring comes early too, already on its way at the end of February/beginning of March, when it can be not much above freezing at night and by late afternoon be almost 80F. There are flowers, but quite often they’re on plants with thorns that will stab you if you aren’t careful. Still, they are flowers. The sunrise has moved from after 7 am during the winter to before 6 am and we’re off to the Preserve to seek out some signs of spring for Jo’s Monday walk (whenever the next one is.) We’ll see a variety of colors and even a hint of two of softness but always be careful because desert can so easily become dessert. 🙂

These flowers are actually quite tiny, but they’re abundant.

And these aren’t large either.

Happy Monday and welcome to March!

for Jo’s Monday Walk

Early

for One Word Sunday: early

Monday non-walk and tales of travel

For many weeks, I’ve been doing a morning walk with Jo, but she’s taking a break and we’re getting ready to move, so we’re not having an official walk. Our city has a shelter-in-place order, but we’re still allowed to walk outside, but I don’t have time right now AND we’re getting the last snow we’re likely to see for a long time, considering we’re moving from the Midwest to Arizona. 🙂

But a few days ago I was at church, delivering some donations and I spotted these harbingers of spring. In our yard, the daffodils and tulips are up, but not flowering yet, so I especially rejoiced in these. I was hoping to get one last walk in the park, but it’s not to be. So enjoy these!!!

Wordless Wednesday…Is it spring yet?