Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Spring has sprung, the grass has riz...
I wonder where the birdies is.
Our part of north Georgia received more snow this winter than during any of the last 35 winters. Specifically, we got three inches once and we got about an inch twice, and once we had only a light dusting. I am well aware that Northerners everywhere are laughing.
But some years we don’t get any snow at all.
The problem around here, usually, is not snow but cold rain that turns to ice. The land is very hilly and driving proves to be treacherous. No one in Georgia owns snow tires or snow chains or snow shovels. So when it snows, schools and businesses close and everybody stays home. We watch the pretty stuff come down, enjoy our winter wonderland for a day or two, and then watch it all melt away as life returns to what passes for normal.
In some years we have seen forsythia (yellow) and jonquils (yellow) bloom in January, flowering peach and cherry trees (pink, white) bloom in February, and dogwoods and azaleas (pink, white, lavender) bloom in early March.
Though winter tarried longer than usual around here this year, spring is definitely on the way. Yesterday the temperature reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit and I saw my first jonquil of the year. I have yet to see any forsythia or flowering peach. I dream of rhododendron and mountain laurel, of redbud and cherry blossoms.
This year, however, I don’t have to wonder where the birdies is. I saw a cardinal a couple of days ago, and a pair of happy mockingbirds, singing, have taken up residence in my neighbor’s tree.
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Tra-lee, tra-lah, the Spring has sprung
ReplyDeleteAnd lambs are frolicking in the sun
Bulbs are bursting in the park
Who gives a fig 'bout The Ides of March?!
by William Shakespeare
Glad to hear that you're able to enjoy springtime at last. Our Forsythia and Cherry don't blossom until about April, but we have daffodils, jonquils, iris reticulata and aconites coming through. We have a saying here, "N'ere cast a clout till May is out", which means it still has the potential to be chilly, so keep the winter woollies handy. x
ReplyDeletei do not, say DO NOT dream f the roderdemderum or johnquil, my dreams have nothing to do with flowers, sometimes i do dream about squash or pumkin pie, that out of the ground i can eat, buit that which com,es from the ground that i can not eat i do not dreqm about>>>>is that clear???????
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to say that rhyme regularly to me when I was a child; he pronounced it 'boidies' in an exaggerated American accent which always seemed to crack me up.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for visiting!
ReplyDeleteYorkshire Pudding, I envision you swathed in pink chiffon and dancing around the scullery maids whilst singing, "Tra-lee, tra-lah"...
Elizabeth, when I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, we came out of church on a Sunday in May to find snow falling...
Putz, very. I was not speaking literally. By "dream about" I meant "long for."
All Consuming (Michelle), people say "boidies" only in parts of New York City and in New Orleans, Louisiana. I wish I could tell you why but I don't know. The odd thing is that the very New Yorkers who say "boidies" for "birdies" also say "erl" and "terlet" for "oil" and "toilet"...
Here in Eugene, the higher parts of town (where the rich people live) get snow and ice. If you live there, you really need studded tires because of the steepness, but if you live in the lower parts of town, you don't, unless you're a skier like Peggy and drive to the Cascades (sixty miles away) when you can.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, was your father an American? Where I was from--near where Rhymes lives--we pronounced it "burds."
ReplyDeleteNo, he's a Brit, just a great big old ham of an actor too hahaha.I grew up hearing him talk in every imaginable accent thanks to amateur dramatics. It must have caught on as myself and hubby talk to each other in bizare accents all the time...sounds a bit weird now I'm writing it down....we're well suited anyway hahaha.
ReplyDeleteMy two boys had an odd, specific and singular speech impediment. The 'er' sound ...as in girl, bird, worm, dirt, they would pronounce 'ore'.
ReplyDeleteSo 'girl' became 'ghoul', 'bird' became 'board', 'worm' became 'warm' and 'dirt' became 'dort'. They seemed to grow out of in by about 7 years old. But while it lasted it was most odd!
Which has a very tenuous connection with your delightful springy post, but which I hope you will permit. Thanking you in advance. Yours faithfully. Katherine de C.