Your Tree

March 21

I am spending a lot of time looking at these white flowers this year. For the record it is a Bradford Pear tree. No pears but lots of nice flowers. The blossoms fill the windows of my little ones room. She is the last one to arrive in our family and for years her room sat empty. Well not exactly empty but lets say unfurnished and filled with the overflow of our busy lives. We didn't know if she'd arrive and when so we didn't want to decide what the room was for. But secretly it is my favorite room in the house. It is painted a soft bluish green and sits high in the front of the house looking right out at my pear tree. It is quiet in her room and it feels a little apart from the bustle of the rest of the house.

Today we jog outside for a bit to visit the garden. It is bitter cold and windy. They are predicting freezing rain for tomorrow. We walk delicately around the clumps of daffodils now blooming triumphantly We say hello to our Peter Rabbit statue checking to make sure his carrots are still safely stuffed in the pocket of his blue jacket. We look up at the house and I point to a window. "Do you know whose room that is?" I ask. My little one turns her head like a puppy and stares intently. She sees the felt flowers propped on the windowsill and I can see her thinking hard. "Do you think that's your room?" I add. She nods slowly and looks at me wide eyed. "Look at your tree, it is so full of blossoms today." She tips her head up and takes in the billows of white blossoms.

Ready to plant?

March 20

Ever look at the bowl of onions on your counter and see this? I guess this one is going into the ground. First we will keep it in a little water in a jar an watch the roots sprout. Our potato experiment is going well, the one with the artificial light still not growing. The potato in the dark is sending up sci-fi looking feelers searching for light. The one in the natural light has nice roots on the bottom and little green shoots on the top. It is fun to watch things grow.

I've been trying to get some more seeds started inside and some plants in the garden but the days have been full. Today we played on the deck with clay, mixed chalk/dirt soup in the water table and had a nice long time at the playground. It may hail or even snow in a couple of days. Maybe I'll wait on planting more outside.

The white blossoms on the tree in front of my house are in their full glory. Today I saw the first green leaves appear. I remember now to enjoy the pure flower explosion for the few days it is there. The neighboring trees are unfurling dark red leaves that look like dots from a burgundy crayon.

Rock tag

March 19

We visit the park with the artistic metal work again today. This park is not new but it is new to us. There is a Clifford ride on toy so we are beginning to refer to this place as the Clifford park. Possibly my favorite feature is the collection of large granite rocks placed around the perimeter of the play area. Not rock like structures made of plastic but real rocks. They sparkle in the sun each with subtle differences. They are just high enough that my little one needs a little help to take a big step up and onto the top. They are fairly flat and easy to walk across. Someone thought about these rocks. They are far enough apart that they don't invite jumping from one to the next but close enough to feel connected. We have a slow game of chase along the chain of rocks. Up, step step, hop down, run. Up, step step, hop down, run. I stop to look at the stripes in one rock and the perfect foot sized  indentation. My girls carry on and make the circuit complete. Around and around until they are out of breath. We settle on the stripped rock, my little one fitting perfectly on the little ledge. Looking up we spot the daytime moon hovering above.

Tulip Tree

March 18

You know those corners of controlled nature around the parking lot of the mall? Everything is measured, tended, and planned. The heights are restricted and the colors coordinated. Well we pulled into the parking lot of our favorite (close enough to walk but here we are in the car again) mall. I look through my windshield and there is a row of tulip trees covered with delicate pink flowers. You may have noticed I am quite into the spring flowers right now. I particularly love tulip trees. They are one tree that bloomed in my home state that also seems to do well in my adopted home on the opposite side of the country. So part nostalgia and part just beauty. They have such exuberant flowers for a tree. Kind of like they are showing off. And the rest of the year they just blend into the background.

I get my little one out of her car seat and we head through the manicured bushes for a closer look at the trees. I'm half expecting a security guard to appear and remind us to stay on the designated walkway. Soon we have hopped over a small hedge and shuffled along a low decorative wall. We are now invisible to the parking lot. Large cypress cover us from the back. Because we are on a low wall we are face to face with the flowers on the tulip trees. Below is a busy road with plenty of shoppers rushing by. If they tried they might be able to see us through the greenery but I doubt anyone looks up here. I feel like we are in a secret hideout. I feel a little rebellious to be here and excited to be on an outside adventure in such an unlikely place.

My daughter and I examine several blossoms and she comments on the holly berries she seems to find everywhere we go. We look at the sky which is growing dark with clouds and decide to head inside. We step back through the greenery into the parking lot and I feel like we have reappeared onto the regular stage. For a moment we were hidden behind the scenery.

Sunday ride

March 17

 This is my view on our bike ride today. My husband happily puffing along and my first grader peddling with ever greater skill. My little one is comfy in her seat behind me. "Go Mamma, go!" she chants as we get to the first big hill. "Don't stop, don't stop!" she adds. We make it to the top and turn towards the elementary school. I begin to think again about riding our bikes to school maybe one day a week. It is really so close. Everything in this neighborhood can be reached in 15 minutes by bike. So why do I drive everywhere again? Hmm, this nice weather is going to make me really think about this car thing. Maybe like Meatless Mondays I'll try "No Car Thursdays." I wish that phrase rolled off the tongue better. As we cross a little creek on a blue metal bridge my little one asks, "why is the bridge blue?" We would never have this conversation whooshing by in the car.

Double Feature

March 16

First of all let me just say WOW! I had no idea these would be bright yellow inside the creamy white outer petals. These burst open today right next to the other daffodil bud I'm waiting on. We all knelt down to flower height and took a moment to really look. We seem to be building our own Spring ritual of flower watching.

The day was warm and breezy. Sun soaked the house and we had every possible door and window wide open. We played every game we could think of in the back yard until we were sweaty and exhausted.

Later we headed down to water our newly planted potatoes. I know from grandpa we are supposed to water every other day but I couldn't resist my little one's enthusiasm. She gave them a good good soaking. I hope we have adequate drainage. Last week we set up a potato growing experiment in the kitchen. Three potatoes submerged half way in water. One in natural light, one in a box with a light bulb and one in a dark box. After a week which potato has the most roots . . . drum roll please . . . the one in the dark! Now I am imagining our potatoes sending out white root tendrils, getting their bearings and surging to life. We have several estimates for how long until we see the first green sprout. The teacher in me is thrilled that my children are doing so much science. The mother in me loves that they are learning to notice and appreciate warm breezy days and flowers.

After dinner we head to the driveway. The cozy bench becomes a snuggle spot for my little one. "Pretend I'm a baby snake and you are my Mommy," she says. She lays on her back with her head in my lap. Her eyes gaze at the evening sky. She narrates the scene: moon, airplane, birds. I look at her soft cheeks and smooth her hair again and again.

Planting Potatoes

March 15

Last year we planted potatoes in our planter boxes on the deck. We were surprised by two things: that the plants had purple flowers and that each potato plant created many new potatoes. Yes, I know that's how it works but to see and more importantly feel a large clump of new potatoes where you know only one was planted is quite exciting. We harvested our crop last fall and on grandpa the master gardener's orders put them in the refrigerator.

Miraculously the bag of our very own home grown potatoes did not get eaten or thrown out over the winter months. Today is the day we started over and planted 18 potatoes in our garden!! Last year we had four plants. Does that mean we are going to have 80 potatoes this fall? Oh, better write that prediction down somewhere. Oh, and better yet, ask my first grader what she thinks. Maybe we will do a little Potato Math for fun.

The planting went well: dig, drop, push, pat, pat, pat. The rows are not straight, I'm sure some plants will be crowded and others spread out. Some potatoes are a couple of inches down and others almost a foot. But this is process not product gardening. We just need to get our hands dirty and I really want my kids to know that potatoes grow underground. They don't just appear at the store. They are part of a plant, with flowers and leaves, and hopefully lots of new potatoes under each one come fall.