Here's Looking Achoo

Allergy sneezon is here.  That's because the weather finally warmed up.  Everything that showed no sign of life up until three days ago is now hip deep.  Still, the sunshine is irresistible, and so the cats and I went outside to soak it up.

The first thing we walked past after feeding the birds was my culinary herb garden where the chive blossoms are becoming plentiful.  I'm more excited to see them than ever before because I want to try to make chive vinegar from them this year.  I think I will have enough by the weekend.

The field has gone feral, so to speak.  Here's what grows when it's allowed to grow, unburdened by pesky mower blades:

George and Gracie enjoy the warm weather.  George is having a bad fur day, and so he didn't want his picture taken.  Gracie, on the other hand, always looks marvelous.  She always keeps her white parts tidy.

I tried to get George to go for a walk in the woods with me.  He didn't seem to want to cross the field, and so I picked him up and carried him through the tall grass.  When I set him down at the edge of the woods, however, he turned and ran back up to the house.  I never force him to go with me . . . she said, as if such a thing were possible.  He seems back to his old self, but I imagine he knows his limits.  Ordinarily, I wouldn't go without him, but I wanted to see what was growing.

Every spring I take the same pictures of the same things over and over and over again.  It's as if I think I'm seeing them for the last time; and yet, every spring they come back again, as I imagine they have for hundreds of years.  These are called Ducks' Feet.  It's easy to see why.

Some things charm me because of their names.  Others because they are so beautiful in their simplicity, and the fact that they grow wild with no help from anyone.

The trail through our woods takes us close to the driveway that serves five homes in our little part of the world.  Ordinarily, I stay on our side of the road because I almost always have George with me.  George knows that the quickest way to end our walk is for him to cross over against my wishes.  (Crossing over is always against my wishes--no exceptions.)  Today, since he wasn't with me, I decided to cross over and see some of the things that grow on the other side.  This is the driveway that leads up to our house.  On the left is the edge of our woods, and on the right is our neighbor's property.

These next few things were growing on the neighbor's side of the road.  Clearly, they require more sunlight than what they would get in our woods.

These Scotch Broom are some of the worst allergy offenders.  They are an invasive species and they spread their seeds far and wide.  Nevertheless, I think they are beautiful when they bloom.  I have known some people who hate them.

While I walked along the road and back up to our house, I came across these little ecosystems growing on a dead tree stump

and a living tree trunk.

When I see things like that, I'm always reminded of the wisdom of Dr. Seuss, "A person's a person no matter how small."  I wonder about the life teeming within . . . life that we can't see.  I wonder if they set up governments, run for office, play music, or if they go to war with one another.  I wonder if some of them feel completely justified in depriving others of them certain rights because of who (or what) they worship, or who they love, or what color they are.

About that time some "honkers" flew overhead.  I think they need to work on their "V" formation.

Within minutes, a fighter jet flew over going much too fast for me to take a picture.  And a few minutes later, a few more fighter jets flew over.  Ft. Lewis is just to the north, and that was the direction they were headed.  

Once I got back to the house, I perused the things that are planted intentionally.  A few more of the azaleas and rhododendrons have bloomed.

My potted plants are doing well, and I don't think anything died in the week since I planted them.  Also, the squirrels have left them alone since initially chowing down.

Aren't these purple tulips amazing?  When I planted my tulips, I planted a mix of colors.  They come up over a period of weeks; and while some have died away and lost their petals, others are just now opening.

Now I think I'll go open a box of kleenex and use the entire thing in one sitting.  It's that kind of day.

Updated to add:  Welcome new friends from Find-A-Friend Friday!