Warm air, early wake up, sinuses itch, but hey, it's such a pretty day!
I miss the half of the family that's not here.
Ed sleeps, I wake him -- it's going to rain! You should move the wagon and tractor! He mumbles from upstairs -- can you do it? I cant back up a wagon! Yes you can. I back up the wagon and haul the machine into the barn.
It does not rain.
Breakfast -- we both have fruit, I have oatmeal, he has leftover popcorn. What is wrong with that -- he asks.
I check my computer. My friend, the affable and ever resourceful George, who has ties to the printed press, ties to the world of professional photography, even ties to the world of lawyers, and now newly formed ties to the folks at the University Memorial Union, sought clarification on the photo policy that lead to the guard's telling me yesterday to not take pictures of my family at our outdoor lunch. His inquiry produced this response (which he forwarded to me):
We are so sorry. This was an incorrect application of our photo and video policy. Our policies do not prohibit personal photography as long as the photography is not occurring on the Outdoor UW and Hoofer docks. We will contact our building management team immediately.
Now all I have to do is confidently assert my rights next time I'm challenged.
What's blooming? Every day reveals something new.
Those peonies started right here, today: against a backdrop of an emerging yellow iris, and the somewhat less common yellow false indigo. (I know you've heard me sing its praises of this combination in previous years! There is a reason why older people have a reputation for repeating their stories!)
Pink irises...
Lupines in the peach tree meadow...
And yes, the earliest day lilies have begun to bloom. I have this theory: if the lilies start flowering here in May, then all is right with the world. I know, I know -- all is not right with the world. Working theory, disproved. Sigh...
Snowdrop comes here after school. Yes she is agreeable, yes I can take a photo. Can it be by some favorite flowers? She prefers up in the tree. Same tree, same limb, same shot that you have seen here so many times before. The girl grows up, but some habits stick around for a very long time.
And some of her younger childhood games make a later come back. She coaxes Ed into babysitting "her children..."
... while she conducts a (pretend) picnic for a select few. Dolls have been absent from her life for several years now, but for some reason, this spring they have reappeared in her stories.
Tomorrow, little Juniper starts "school" in Chicago, and Snowdrop and Sparrow end their school year in Wisconsin. Though technically school continues until the end of the week for them, they're handing their house over to a cat/house sitter and are taking off for a brief vacation. Me? Oh, I'm tagging along, though not in lockstep with them. But when have you known me to pre-announce a trip! More on our adventures will follow as the week unfolds.
For now, Ed and I open up our windows, we watch the swallows chase bugs high in the air and listen to their compadres tweet their songs late into the evening. A beautiful day to end the spring month of May.
