Yellow, yellow everywhere.
In my clothes and in my hair.
Pollen flying from all the trees.
Making me just sneeze and sneeze.
—–Linda Schaub (2013)

Well a little Ogden Nash-like poem there – nothing fancy. Yellow is the word of the day because it is everywhere. House issues, errands and one day of bad weather kept me from walking an entire week. I did walk at Meijer and on errands yesterday but they just didn’t count; not when the weather is beautiful and beckoning me to lace up my walking shoes and head out. I was hankering for a real, long walk to drink in the finally-Spring weather. This morning was perfect. It was beautiful out and I shucked my cardigan within a few blocks from the house. Dandelions have cropped up everywhere rearing their golden heads and it looked like a sea of yellow as far as the eye could see. And beautiful tulips in every color in the Crayola box miraculously sprang up in Winter-weary gardens replacing the daffodils which are now fading fast. It is just inconceivable that in one week’s time the magnificent Magnolia trees went from bud to blossom and lawns are already littered with spent blossoms. The weather people promise a weekend of sunny beautiful weather so walking will happen this weekend, and I am glad to be back on course. As I headed back home I noticed our former neighbor and friend Ann Elmore’s red tulips standing like soldiers in a row under her kitchen window. She was so proud of those tulips which she had planted when they moved into their house when they first married. They must be nearly seven decades old and still thriving, despite the new homeowner’s efforts to rototill the entire side garden several years ago. I think I will think of Mrs. Elmore every year when I see this splash of color and remember how proud she was of her gardens. She had coneflowers and daisies encircling the entire backyard also many decades old. We “inspected” each other’s gardens at least once a year … sadly the last few years of her life dementia robbed her of her faculties and she did know even realize she had a garden in her backyard.