… had no frills, frou frou or flowers upon it.
Instead, it was a fleece-lined, warm wool hat, with a huge fur pom-pom, and, it was a necessity to venture out in that cold air this morning.
After yesterday’s rain, this morning I waited patiently while the thermometer seemed to hover forever between 31 and 32 degrees. I wanted to wait until the temperature was 33 degrees so black ice would not be worrisome on the asphalt path.
I finally set out at nearly 10:00 a.m. It was a lackluster sun and sure not the brightest, nor best, weather for our Easter Sunday. Given this chilly Spring, it is unfortunate that Easter could not have been in mid-April instead.
I didn’t always wear a wool hat and squall coat when I ventured out on Easter Sunday. Here is a photo of me modeling my new hat and coat circa 1963, when Easter happened to fall on my birthday.
I think it was my first dress hat which did not tie under the chin. My mom insisted on plopping it onto my head, then positioning it at a jaunty angle and I kept “accidentally on purpose” trying to fix it to my liking. I didn’t like that hat as I thought it made me look old. It was not like I was a “fashion plate” at the tender age of 7, yet I protested each time I wore it to Sunday school, but my protestations fell on deaf ears and unfortunately it was mine until I outgrew it.
As mentioned above, as I walked to the Park, I mused that I certainly wasn’t dressed appropriately for Easter Sunday. I’m still wearing a configuration of nine different pieces of clothing to stay warm while walking through the breezy Park, especially since I walk parallel to the Creek. This morning that wind was humming along and the water was rippling with the breeze. Thankfully, Saturday’s wind finally died down. While the wind never got to the projected 50-60 mph gusts, I could still feel the house movin’ and shakin’ on occasion.
We’ve not turned a corner yet on this cold weather that continues to linger. This morning the weatherman commented that you might want to wear earmuffs with your Easter bonnet, and there is no significant warm-up in sight for at least two or three more weeks. Well, I’ll take it as long as the weather forecast does not come with rain.
Today I took a long and leisurely stroll, nearly six miles to be exact. Around the neighborhoods and through the Park I went, looking for some signs of Spring. I took some photos yesterday, but there was no sun then. Today, when the sun finally got brighter, I took the same pictures again.
At the Park, the subtle shades of green intermingled with the dead grass and marsh reeds to help define the magic of Spring. As old as I am, I still marvel that such a cold and snowy season can end, then suddenly new growth appears, those tiny bright-green tendrils reaching for the Heavens, or wrapping themselves around and alongside dead grass and decayed leaves in a still-barren landscape.
Those first tiny shoots pushing through the cold dark earth give credence to this Chinese proverb: “Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.”
Nothing says Spring is on the way like seeing the first robin of the year. They have been out in the neighborhood or at Council Point Park for several months now. This morning, I watched a couple of robins … or, perhaps I should say they watched me. I was very still as I wanted a close-up of them as they poked and prodded the hard ground with their pointed yellow beaks, trying valiantly to produce a worm. I wanted to tell them to forget about it ‘til May, but I let them go on about their business. Finally, the smarter of the two, flew up into a tree.
The other one kept stabbing the ground as if to prove a point to me.
Finally, wearing a look of exasperation, or maybe even humiliation, it looked me straight in the eye.
That long-anticipated “greening” of the Park carries over to the neighborhoods as well, telling me that perhaps Spring is really waiting in the wings, despite these cold temps and the occasional flurries that were flitting around my face this morning.
On my daily walks, I monitor the growth spurts of the neighborhood perennials … even the moss.
The snowdrops next to the crocuses are still holding their own, since I first discovered them at this spot and showed you a photo of them back on February 24th. Those poor blooms have weathered the wind, slush and torrential rains … and still look good.
But those plants’ tenacity is nothing like that of a former neighbor’s tulips and daffodils. One Spring I wrote at length about the bulbs that were planted sixty years ago by the original owners of the house. After they both passed away in 2010, their children sold the house and some outside landscaping took place immediately thereafter. Those prized tulips and daffs in the front and side garden beds, were the first to go, after a rototiller churned the beds up. Next, many wheelbarrows of mulch covered up the garden beds where evergreens and perennials had co-existed happily for years. I gasped when I heard the noise and investigated, then saw the result. Those perennials had been such a source of delight for the homeowners for many years, and frequently passersby remarked on their beauty when they all bloomed profusely in the Springtime.
Well, a few daffodils are back, refusing to submit to the rototiller blades and still standing tall like soldiers, their bright-yellow heads bobbing in the un-Spring-like breeze.
If only people were as resilient …
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
You were a real sweetie as a kid!
Great shots! 🙂
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Thanks Tom. I originally intended to use that old picture as the main photo, then decided to do a little twist instead. It looks a little more like Spring, but it was 24 degrees this morning.
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Miss Linda………………………tell me again: how do I look at those pictures that you are referring too in your blog?
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Did I mention specific pictures in my blog Ann Marie or was it old pictures that I scanned in last Thanksgiving? I have scanned those photos in, but not all of them are in a “final form” … I scanned in some that are multiple images on one scrapbook or album page – I will have to take each image separately and create a new picture. I had thought I’d get it done over the Winter, but I am now thinking it will be more like a project to do when I retire. But in the meantime, I put all the images onto Shutterfly, the online photo service, and I can get pictures like that one I used and just use them as needed. I’m going to send you an image of what the album page looked like and how I had to get the picture taken on my 7th birthday.
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Sounds like you and I have very similar weather these days!! Here we’re about to be hit with rain, rain, and did I mention rain? Sigh. It’s funny you say that you didn’t like that hat because you thought it made you look “old.” When I was a kid I *wanted* to look older. In fact, right up until I got out of my teens, I used to say I was 18 1/2, or 19 1/2! Lol, NOT LIKE NOW!!
Fantastic close-up shots of the robins!
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Thanks Ellie – I was so busy at work today and had a major computer malfunction this morning and could not remote into work. We still don’t know what happened and it has never happened before. So I was behind getting work done today and I just left there a few minutes ago. It is pouring raining, a torrential rain pounding on the roof and starting to thunder as well. They say it might turn into light snow. Just crazy weather this year.
I told people for years how old I was. I’d whip out my driver’s license if anyone asked for any reason, and was always happy to produce it. I always looked young because I had long hair, but those days are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Glad you liked the robins’ photos. Usually they hop away but for some reason they cooperated for me for a change; either that or they were lethargic from the cold.
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Ay yi yi! Sounds like you had a really stressful day! And the rain to cap it off! 😦
Yeah, I look younger too, which is cool! I milk it. 😉
“Lethargic” robins, lol. They should’ve waited another few weeks, right? They need a new calendar!
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Ha ha – gotta milk it as long as we can! Those robins usually have a surly look and fly away when I get near. Perhaps they decided to appease me and I’d go away and no more camera in their face(s).
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Beautiful throw back photo Linda!😊
Easter fell on brother birthday this year. April fool’s, Easter and a Sunday. He was delighted.😆
Thank goodness Spring is kicking it’s way in.
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My boss has a son who goes to law school in Chicago. His birthday is April Fool’s Day as well. He went up and celebrated in the Upper Peninsula with Robb and his wife. My birthday has fallen on Easter a few times as well. It is nice when that happens. My mom’s birthday was Valentine’s Day.
Spring is taking its sweet time, and right now we have quite the torrential rain out there.
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It’s lovely to have a birthday during the holidays season. 😊
The rain is a good sign that Spring has come to stay. Is that your garden photo? The flowers are springing up. Beautiful!!!🌺♥️😊
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Yes it is Iri. Then Spring will be here for sure – it is still pouring! No, those are flowers I took along the way on my walk. I checked out back and saw nothing … hopefully they did not die over the Winter!
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That’s awesome! 😊 It’s amazing how the rhizomes of flowers like daffodils 🌼 can withstand winter weather year after year. I believe yours will grow out. Some are late growers/bloomers. 😀
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Yes it is, especially in the wicked Midwest Winters that we endure.
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‘Wicked Midwest Winters’ Lol! 😂 I won’t forget that hashtag come winter. ❄️ 🤣
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Love the childhood photo, Linda. It clearly speaks of another era that I remember well. The story of the rototiller tearing up your former neighbor’s perennials made me sad.
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I digitized all my photo albums last year Carolyn. I thought I’d finish the project over the Winter as some were small pictures and I will have to separate multiple images on each page to make new JPEG images. It will take years to do it properly, but in the meantime, I put the photos on Shutterfly and can use some in the blog. It was a nice look back at old pictures doing that project. I often do use old photos in my blog … I had digitized my favorites back in 2010 when I first got the scanner.
I am 62 and when I was young, it was all about getting dressed up on holidays and for Sunday School – the hat, gloves and a little purse as well.
It made me so sad to see that happening with the rototiller. The couple who lived there, especially the woman, was so proud of the perennial garden out back and the tulips especially. Theirs was the first house built on the block and they were newlyweds so they planted the bulbs the first year – every year they came up like clockwork and brightened the house. She would have been devastated to know what happened. Those daffodils survived the siege. They tore out all the bushes as well and left the garden beds empty – just a waste.
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Linda,
Why did they tear the perennials out?
No one thinks plants are alive and have feelings.
The robins look sad too but they posed still. One of them looks all fluffed up- perhaps a winter coat.
Your photos all look natural and as it is.
Love reading your posts.
Susie
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