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Tag Archives: Spring

The Last Gasp of Spring . .

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Change, Gratitude, Seasons

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Gardener, Gratitude, Joy, Nature, Seasons, Spring, Summer

I don’t wish to proclaim this week’s weather as the last grasp of Spring, but at today’s high of 77F, it is possible that this weekend’s 102F will only be the start of the Summer heat wave coming here in the South-west. It happens every year here in the desert, and after all the years I’ve lived here, I know that daily consecutive highs near 120F are coming eventually. May can be a hot month, hence today’s pleasant coolness on a mid-May day is a cause to celebrate! Most Summer days will fall anywhere between 105 and 115F on average. The sun is unrelenting here in Summer, up early and refusing to go down gently or coolly! It heats things up and keeps them heated from early morning until well after the sun has set like a typical desert. Often our nighttime lows won’t drop below the high 80’s to mid-90s. So, I cannot help but wish the days like today would linger a bit longer, as this weather seems to a gardener like me much gentler and easier than the hot days which are coming. But that is probably unreasonable just a few days away from the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The heat is inevitable, and I must savour this day and this cooler week while I can!  

The windows of my house have been open all day and I stayed home after an appointment earlier today just because I wanted to relish this weather! I began my day working out in the garden as I knew today would be advantageous for such activity! Next week this same time, the windows will be closed and the air conditioner will be running round the clock. And I probably won’t be out in the garden much past 9 a.m. in the morning. I am not a big fan of the heat that is coming, but I tolerate it and accept it every Summer because I get the great mild weather the rest of the year. Many people love the heat which closes up our houses in air conditioned comfort for months on end, but I really prefer the kind of weather like today’s which permits me to tend to the garden all throughout the day and to enjoy the songs of all the birds while breathing in fresh, cool air through open windows. That is not possible once the air conditioning days settle in, as the windows will be closed up tight 24 hours a day. Those days will then endure continuously until around October, as that is usually when the heat breaks, as the days shorten again and the nights start to cool. But that Autumnal break is months from now, and today is a gift I’m languishing in with gratitude as a swansong to Spring!  

Each year I feel the tease of Spring’s turn to Summer and Summer’s hopeful turn again towards Autumn. A desert Summer is an endurance event for my garden and for the gardener, me, who tends to all the plants! I must water potted plants daily, as to miss a day in Summer can mean a plant succumbs to desiccating dry winds and intense heat. I can’t do my usual chores without considering when and for how long, as the days heat up quickly and wear a gardener out quickly! I suppose a desert Summer is similar to Winter restrictions elsewhere, limiting and harsh by nature. Plants can go dormant, and I, in part, do as well! So today I am lingering under my open windows, out among the plants and animals,  loving every moment of this glorious return to Spring! 

A Seasonal Wardrobe Change . .

04 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Beauty, Change, Gratitude, Seasons

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Beauty, Desert, God, Nature, Spring

I feel sorry for allergy sufferers during a desert Spring such as this one! There are many stuffed up noses and tear-filled eyes with all the flowers and plants in bloom. It seems as though even normal blooming has been surpassed by super blooming this year! We’ve had regular rains since last Summer all throughout the desert Southwest, usually of a significant amount every month and then we had our usual warm up to prompt seeds to sprout and plants to grow. Now we’re in our glory here in the desert! Like fresh carpets or blankets spread over entire regions, or new Spring dresses adorned to highlight the season, this desert is covered with wildflowers and shrubs blooming en masse!  

I recently drove through the desert between Southern California and Arizona. Along the Interstate, the normally drab and boring desert through which I’ve passed dozens of times on that drive was transformed by a carpet of fiery gold! Everywhere I looked, including up the sides of mountains and beyond, were yellows and orangy-gold flowers illuminating the ground! Brittlebush, poppies and other yellow blooming plants were mixed with a few purple and white wildflowers alongside the highway and beyond to cast a more vibrant costume change over the usual beige dress worn by this familiar desert. 

But I know all this color and beauty comes with a price for so many! They endure allergies daily. I consider myself quite fortunate to not have such issues, as I love being outdoors gardening. Anyone inclined to allergies would have significant trouble this year! What a burden to have to choose between viewing and being amidst the beautiful blooms out in the desert or to sit home for the sake of preserving one’s health?! I’m remembering how the desert around my city once was considered the haven for those who had allergies, doctors often recommending an extended visit or residency here for health reasons. Decades ago, it was less developed and there were fewer species and fewer quantities of those specimens to bother the average allergy sufferer or those with breathing issues. But with the post-war, mid-century population surges of the 20th century, this desert city became a thriving metropolis! Along with all that growth and development came waterways, greenbelts, and many more gardens with more varieties of plants! Now, this desert town has become a beautiful expansive oasis, but the prevalence of allergies are a tell-tale symptom of our progress! We even recently developed a mosquito issue, due to our regular rains and the prevalence of water in communities!  

Although I feel truly sorry for those inflicted by the symptoms of such fabulous blooming seasons as this one, I am thrilled to experience it for myself! It’s amazing the depth, breadth, and scope of natural beauty found in a desert after ample rain! Suddenly, even the harshest terrain can resemble something entirely different and much softer for all the moisture. Bright greens and hues which defy description have replaced the browns and tans the desert normally wears! This change of costume for our desert is a perfect way to delineate the transition from Spring into Summer! As one scene ends with one season, another begins, and the star of the show has a wardrobe change to highlight that transformation! 

I’m sure the allergy sufferers will take their relief shortly when the heat of Summer blasts the blooms into submission. It’s just around the corner now that we’re in April! Even the hardiest of blooms takes a pause for the intense heat, drought, and sun of Summer in our desert which usually is advancing by May. I will savor the moments I now have to enjoy the beauty we’re experiencing by spending time out in my garden and in nature! It’s a beautiful season, a fabulous year, and there is much in the way of God’s majestic design and craftsmanship to behold! And I’ll surely appreciate doing so sans allergies and breathing issues, and be thankful in the process!   

The Early Bird . .

30 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Joy, Nature, Opportunity

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Chores, Gardening, Spring

This week, I’m in the middle of my Spring-time yard clean up! And I’m exhausted. Now I must preface this whole tale by confessing to having a slew of plants, a pretty decent size yard and a great fondness for doing it all myself. Spring has sprung, it’s time to trim off the dead plant material and to rake up the debris left on the ground after Winter’s rages or seasonal changes. Each Spring, I have a list of prioritized items, beginning with the most crucial and ending with the least necessary. Crossing each item off the list would be wonderful, but I always end up adding to the list as I go! I have yet to begin a simple project without first having to do two or three minor things in preparation. For instance, I want to prune some tree branches, but first I must clean up under the tree or rake up after pruning the tree branches. There is often a bit of obscurity with seemingly simple list items, as projects are linked. Raking, pruning, bagging, hauling, planting, weeding, and the list goes on with the interconnected tasks! I’m an early bird, though, so I’ll get going early whenever I can to get it all done!  

Spring’s to-do list for the garden is never something I resent, no matter its length, as I so enjoy Spring! It’s probably my favorite season, as everything comes to life; and after Winter cold and rains, the warmth of Spring brings incredible beauty! There are shiny bright greens, all shades and types of flowers bursting from restless buds, and nature seems to awaken to all sorts of possibility. Animals are breeding, the baby bunnies, birds, and even lizards are all scurrying about! I have waited so patiently through colder months of inclement weather and plant dormancy to be this active in my garden again! I look forward to weeding, pruning, cleaning up, refreshing, and most of all, planting. There are holes to be filled wherever a plant didn’t make it, for whatever reason. During Winter, plants can succumb to frost or to animals snacking for survival. When they don’t green up after the warmth of Spring begins, it’s time to remove them and replace with something new. And after all the cleaning up, it’s as if the entire property got a haircut, a new style, a reshaping and a fresh look which gives it a lift for the new season and the rest of the year ahead!  

Even though my list makes for a lot of hard work physically, checking each item off produces significant joy within! I am pleased as punch to finish an item, even if it means I’ve had to add five more items as a result! I choose the best days to work based on the weather projected, the most opportune moments of those days, and work as long as I’m able before the aches and pains beset me! Each thing I finish on my list is the source of great satisfaction. One day, I plant. Another day, I rake up dead leaves in the front yard or under the fruit trees in the rear yard. And still another day, I take a pruning saw to a few tree branches which are not growing in the right direction or giving the tree the best form. My garbage can is always full in Spring with plant material raked up from the ground or pruned from my numerous plants.  

I even set my alarm to wake up extra early on those mornings I plan to be outdoors working just to get going on my Spring chores. The lengthening, warmer days offer an advantage for those of us who love the early-bird worms of Spring mornings! Tomorrow is another work day, as it’s slated to be warm enough but not too hot. It’s a day I’ve set aside to again tackle the burgeoning list I’ve created this Spring. And tonight when I retire, I’ll set my alarm for early in the morning just to ensure that I won’t miss an opportunity to get as much done as I can while I can! Beware worms, this early bird is coming for you tomorrow!   

First Day of Spring . .

20 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Beauty, Celebration, God, Joy, Life

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Easter, Nature's Promise, Spring

First day of Spring, always evokes within me a sense of what is going on all around me in this particular season. Life is bursting forth, newness and freshness prevail. There are nests and burrows dug, from which new life emerges. The flowers seem to light up with pride each new day for having brought such joy back to life. And the days are lengthening again, which is a means for nature to display itself in all its finery and showiness against the backdrop of the sun for even longer! 

580 I’ve considered long and hard which season of the four is my favorite, I can’t say as if I know for sure it is Spring. I do know that Spring holds so much joy during its daily parade of splendor, that I would surely say its my favorite while I’m in it! I’m enamored by the fluctuating weather, the promise of the warmth of Summer ahead; which then can be so distant on a cool, bleak and rainy morning. Everything seems to want to come to life again as the days grow longer, but it still seems a struggle and a process slow and steady! There are no guarantees with Summer lying in wait; but Spring surely knows its role as the interim force prevailing against whatever hold Winter still has on all of life. And so it persists in its daily show, bringing forth from the earth a variety of new creations and renewed life as well!  

195567_orig With Easter just ahead, I am fully aware of the enduring and faithful promise of rebirth, renewal and resurrection – which enhances my joy! For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son to die so that whomever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). After a time then comes the promise and the gift of life reborn, renewed and resurrected! In each Spring we see that promise of His great love affirmed through all of creation!   Signature02

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