Spring Arrival

Despite logic and science and everything else, each year I remained convinced that winter will never end. There is a part of me that remains sure that June and July will roll around and temperatures will still be below freezing, frost will still be forming on the windows, and I'll be walking into work swaddled in down coats and multiple scarves.

Even as spring progresses, each time there is a small dip in the temperatures back towards freezing or there is a random spring snow flurry, I want to shout out, "See, I knew winter would last forever."

Which is why, every year, when the season fully transitions to spring, I'm in amazement.  I feel in awe of the warm weather that allows us to run around without jackets. Each blooming tree and sprouting bulb excites me. I'm ecstatic over the return of robins and butterflies and budding branches. 

I want to run around, photographing each and every single flower. I want to turn cartwheels in the new grass. I want to loudly proclaim that spring is here...

Wait, I actually do all those things.

Most places I've lived before, spring is a transient period, a gradual warming from the coldness of winter to the sweltering of summer. 

Spring in the Midwest is prolonged and substantial, an almost cleanly delineated event. It's negative twenty degrees outside and then suddenly, it's not. The world is full of flowers and sunshine and balmy breezy days. Then, just as suddenly, the days are hot and humid and full of cicadas and fireflies and it's summer. 

But between the frigid gray of winter and the lazy heat of summer, there is spring, bright and full and beautiful. 

Each year I doubt and each year I'm wrong.

I'm so happy to be wrong.  Spring is here.

Catching Butterflies

With warm days and flowers - bushes, trees, shrubs, hedges, fields full of flowers - come the butterflies.

And with the butterflies, come two little boys with butterfly nets and tireless legs.


 Countless butterflies were caught, examined, exclaimed over, and then let free.

I wish every day could be filled with warmth, sunshine, and butterfly nets.

Full Bloom

After a mild winter, spring came early.  This is absolutely the ideal scenario. Spring came so early, so quickly, and so fully here, that it felt as if it had been lying just under the surface of the cold, desperate to break through.  Once it decided to burst from the ground, nothing could hold it back.

It is not even April, and all ready the daffodils are nearly passed, and there are already buds on the lilac bushes.

The world was gray and bare and now, it is covered in the lush green mist of new leaves.

Each twig is in full bloom.

All the color, the freshness, the newness of everything...it almost makes spring my favorite season.

Visit Leigh vs Laundry for 52 Weeks of Happiness.

Bloom

Happiness is...

Daffodils!



Hyacinths!



Violets!


Forthysia!


Whatever these are!


Spring is here!

Stop by Leigh vs. Laundry for 52 Weeks of Happiness and post a picture of something that makes you deliriously happy!

Currently...

It feels like my mind has been as frozen as the Midwest. But as spring comes and the ground thaws, I'm also trying to get out of the funk that has possessed me lately. It hasn't been easy. Blog posts tumble around in my mind, but the motivation to actually sit and write just hasn't been there. In an attempt to force myself to write, I'm borrowing this from Karen. Because the infrequency of my blog posting doesn't correlate to a lack of goings-on in my life.

Currently...

Current Book

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. For youth adult dystopian novels (by far my second favorite genre), this one is actually pretty good. I'm not claiming it's Hunger Games good, but so far, I'm really enjoying it.

Current Albums

Sign No More, by Mumford and Sons. On repeat. All the time. I'm in love with this album.

Current Guilty Pleasure

This. Seriously, check out this link. And it's not just me. My boys can't get enough of the Decorah bald eagle live cam. This is running nearly 24 hours a day at our house. And yes, I nearly squeal with excitement every time I see the mommy feed the babies. (Although the new ads are a little irritating.)

Current Drink

Vanilla Coke Zero. Ahh....

Current Songs

The Cave, by Mumford and Sons
Ours, by The Bravery
When You Were Young, by The Killers

Current Wish-List

A bike. Oh, how I want one. The bike trails around here are calling to me.

Current Needs

New shoes. I can't believe mine have lasted this long. (Although "lasted" might be a matter of opinion.)
A new, cute purse. Losing things through holes in the lining of my current purse seems like a good enough excuse for a new one.

Current Triumph

Re-seeding our lawn.

Current Favorite Film

Tangled. Yes, a cartoon. But still, I just loved this movie.

Current TV Show

Survivor. Yes, it's the 22nd season, but it's still just as fun.

Current Indulgence

Reading three novels in as many weeks. I'm sure there are more productive things to do (like my research project.) But it feels so wonderful.

Current Outfit

Jeans, T-shirt. What's new?

Current Banes of My Existence

The fact that Monkey has given up sleeping through the night. It is driving me crazy, while making me worried all at the same time. Poor kid is having so many bad dreams and such. I'm exhausted.

Current Excitement

Spring is here!

Current Mood

Slightly stressed.

Current Picture

This is actually a picture my dad took. I'm in the process of editing it. I want to enlarge it and hang it in my living room. I love the subject and I think the colors work perfectly.

And it's right in line with my current obsession: all things spring.

What are you currently into?

Galoshes

Happiness is...


Yellow galoshes.


Wearing them makes splashing in rain puddles so much more fun.


Visit Leigh vs. Laundry for 52 Weeks of Happiness and post a photo of something that makes you happy.

Finally Here

Spring has been a long time coming this year. Each day above freezing would make me hopeful, only to have those hopes dashed the next day's offering of sub-32 degree weather, or even worse, snow.

I tried to be patient as February changed to March. I would remind myself that it hadn't started snowing until December. I would remind myself that spring didn't technically start until March 20th. I would remind myself that no winter has lasted forever.

Nothing seemed to help. As one cold day followed another, I could feel myself getting irritable, frustrated, sure that this winter would be the first endless winter. The cold seemed to seep into everything: my bones, my thoughts, my motivation.

But eventually, even the hardest, coldest winters end.

The snow eventually melts.

The days eventually turn warm.

Driving passed fields still gray and brown with the stubble of last years harvest, I can start to feel the hope of green.


It may have been a long time coming, but I think that spring is finally here.

Tulip Time

I've been busy this last weekend, learning words like "bergemeester," "kaas," "klokkenspel," and "klompen."

I've also been enjoying sites like these...



And, yes, I'm still here in Iowa.

We were at the 75th Annual Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa.


It was cold, breezy, and drizzling the morning we were supposed to go. But I was stubborn, and Hubster was obliging, so we made the nearly 2 hour drive, despite the weather.

I'm glad we did.

It turns out Tulip Time is a really, really big deal. And for good reason.

Pella, settled by Dutch immigrants and steeped in Dutch culture, is one of the most gorgeous towns I've ever been to. I want to live there now.


The streets are clean, the shops charming, the whole setting picturesque.


In fact, almost too much so. It feels a little surreal, almost theme-park in character. That may have been due to the hundreds of people dressed in Dutch garb.

Street sweepers, a Tulip Time tradition

And not just the people in the parades, but people in the shops, people in the crowds, people everywhere.

We enjoyed the tulips (even though the early warm weather meant that the tulips were just past prime, there were still enough to oh-and-awe over).

Yes, there is dirt on Monkey's face. I don't have time to Photoshop it off, so you get the real deal.

We enjoyed the windmills.


We enjoyed the parades. We enjoyed the wooden shoes.


So much that I had to get a pair to bring home. C'mon. They're wooden shoes. I had to get some!

It didn't rain on us. In fact, the sun broke through as we shared a funnel cake and watched Dutch dancers.

Even Monkey got in to the Dutch spirit.

Not sure what this dance is call, though...Don't think it's traditional.

It was a long drive. It was a cold, breezy day. It was absolutely worth it.


Especially because I have my own wooden shoes.

May Day

Not May Day, as in help. But May Day, as in May 1. Flower baskets on door knobs, May pole dancing, and Maifest at the nearby German heritage based town.


After a heavy rainstorm yesterday, complete with hail, thunder that made the boys cling to my legs and shake like leaves, and a several-hour power outage that had us playing Scrabble by candle light, it was wonderful to wake up to sunshine and a bright blue sky.

I'm trying really hard to be involved in local activities, see local attractions, and do whatever is available. So after I heard about the May Day festivities occurring at a nearby town (from the dental hygienist at my last dental appointment, no less), I was determined we would go.

The boys weren't sure at first, but words like "parade" and "treats" enticed them out of bed, into their clothes, and into the car. I used similar words on Hubster, as well.

They ended up being glad we went. After all, it's hard to not be excited when lederhosen-clad men in wagons pulled by ponies throw handfuls of candy at you.

(Okay, sometimes even candy doesn't make Monkey happy.)

After the candy-fest, um, I mean, parade, was over, we watched the Maipole dancers.


Hubster had done a May Pole dance in elementary school. But I doubt he got to wear authentic dresses and flower wreaths.

The festivities over, we wandered the streets of the historic village, snacking on fresh kettle corn. It's a good thing Hubster was with me, otherwise I would have dragged the boys into every single one of the darling shops. Instead, I settled for taking pictures of almost every single darling shop.



This same town is having a Renaissance Festival in a few weeks. I've already told Hubster and the boys we will definitely be going.

What's a German festival without a giant barrel?

MaiFest was a perfect way to celebrate the spring that is already starting to feel like summer.