May Day

Happy May!

We're still waiting for all the spring stars to align here. Warmth, sun, blue sky, flowers, singing birds...there have been tastes of all of it, but hardly ever all at the same time. Meanwhile, we've also had rain, snow, sleet, hail, and howling gales. 

This past weekend, the sun was shining but the wind was a force to be reckoned with. I hitched the trailer to my bike on Saturday morning and felt like someone had turned the speed dial to slow motion as I pedaled against the gusts. I moved slower and slower as, on successive stops, I loaded the trailer with library books, thrift-store purchases, a bag each of potting soil and seed-starting mix, a gallon jar of milk, and a bag of groceries. 

Sunday started full of promise, even warmer and sunnier. But the wind rose and rose until it reached ridiculous. As I drove to the nursery seeking a fruit-tree sale, the car was buffeted back and forth on the road. Then, wandering through the rows of plants, I watched potted trees blowing into the pond faster than the nursery staff could fish them out. Trying to read the tags and debate the merits of different varieties of peaches, plums, pears, and apples, I could barely think as gusts blasted through and past me. Finally, with my two trees safely tucked into the car, I stopped by Lowe's to pick up a few more fence posts. While the roof of the outdoor garden section creaked and groaned, I overheard a worker radioing about out-of-control shopping carts careening through the parking lot. 

Back at home, I battled to hang laundry on the line and daydreamed about how pioneer life on the wind-blasted prairie might well have driven me raving mad. Then I went out to the garden to spread compost and plant seeds, which mostly meant chasing seed packets as they skittered away on every fresh gust and covering seeds with soil in a frantic hurry before the next gust blew them all away.

Ahhh, spring.