spring
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Tamarack Walk
You are viewing stuff tagged with spring.
Not too long ago, while Mykala was driving us to Ikea, I was watching spring out the window of the car. For the first time, while admiring the buds, I caught myself thinking about the autumn coming later this year. Caught me off-guard, and I felt old. A poem seemed appropriate. So, more bad poetry, a blessedly rare occurrence here:
It’s finally spring.
It’s almost mid-April and we’re coming into a huge snowstorm. They’re saying somewhere between 8 and 20 inches starting tonight and continuing tomorrow. Mykala has planned a Christmas dinner for tomorrow night, the Santa nightlight is plugged in, I’m listening to Christmas music (“Christmas with the Rat Pack”), and getting a game of TextTwist going.
The pollen outside today was actually visible. It was raining pollen onto the car, and I could see many little granules of it running in delicate rivulets down the glass. Surprisingly, both Mykala and I seem to either be getting used to the constant congestion of allergy season or our bodies are adjusting. Mykala might have mono, and by extension so might I. Both of us have histories of remarkably poor ear nose and throat health. My future children (not yet on the way, though Mykala and I frequently talk about you in the abstract), if you are reading this, I am very sorry for your ears — you can blame both myself and your mother.
Spring came earlier in 2010; I’m finally getting around to uploading the pictures I took from then.
A few days ago, they had some record cold up in northern Minnesota. In late April — coldest day on record — something like 28°F for the high. This morning, I was taking out the trash (had to get the place looking presentable for our plumber visit), and it was SNOWING! On May 2nd!
The next two days are street cleaning days for Minneapolis. I finally get to put away the 534 pound mountain bike and get out the 2 pound road bike. This is EXTREMELY exciting.
We are coming up on my favorite season in the whole-wide world: street sweeping season. After getting gravel, rocks, and sand kicked into my face for a season, I finally get relief: a chance to ride the good bike without worrying about destruction of myself or the bike from street debris.
That’s what’s so great about Minnesota: everyone here knows what spring means: the awesomeness of room-temperature air. We really should have some sort of celebration or parade.
It’s the time of the year when the air begins to smell beautiful. Perhaps you’ve noticed? This is the smell that gives me spring fever like nothing else. It’s not just the freshly cut grass in the evenings; it’s millions of blossoms and leaves and moss… Incidentally, I remember learning in my undergrad microbiology class that actinobacteria are an important component of that fresh nature smell — they’re what you smell after it rains.
Again, a tree above was providing some fantastic diffuse lighting, which really helped soften this shot.
The lighting was perfect in the yard a few houses north of here.
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