Since spring is coming slowly to my world I thought of the question "What is Spring?"
Spring is different where ever you may happen to be. If you are far south spring may not be very noticeable. The temperature doesn't change much. Leaves and grass are green all year. If you are where I live spring comes slowly over a long period of time. Warming is gradual with back slides to cold winter temperatures. We have to get well into spring before much plant activity takes place. Today, several plants right beside my house are showing green shoots. Some trees are in bud but it will be a long time before we see trees leafing out. The ice went out of the river last week but all the ponds and lakes are still covered with very solid ice.
Then there's the Arctic spring. I've been through five of those. The light is bright...very bright. But there's no warmth in it. In late April there is some melting snow but it is in May that the snow disappears and the huge rivers lose their ice. It's a funny thing that the Canada geese arrive the end of April and sit on the ice of lakes. It's 3 or 4 weeks before they can begin nesting.
Now for some people spring is the return of birds or just one species. For other people it may be the awakening of plants. I like to go out in the woods when the sap goes up and you have the invigorating odor of the trees coming to life. For some people it's when rabbits and weasels turn brown.
Tomorrow morning the sun rises at 6:49 AM. I like to see mornings come earlier and earlier. Then I like to see the evenings get longer.
So we have a whole lot of nice things happening for spring and then wham! Things suddenly turn to winter. Later on this week I have a three day forecast of snow.
No matter what I like spring. It's a general move to warmth.
So what is spring for you? Do you have a barely noticeable spring or a long period of moderation? What particular part of spring do you like best?
Now I must apologize as I posted this when I was only half finished the post.
Mar. 24 2016. A late spring storm.
I called my spunky 89 year old friend the other night and she was a little down. I wrote about Dorothy and how a Least weasel got in her house and how she finally got it out of the house.
Right now Dorothy is facing some challenging problems. These are problems that come with aging. Her husband has been in care for three years with dementia. That's a big challenge by itself.
Dorothy has decided to move into a senior's residence rather than continue living in her duplex. She will be in the same complex as her husband but he is in the closed section for dementia people.
However, Dorothy wants to list her house on May 1 and has to clean it out. That's a challenge for most of us. Some people have stuff and then there's Dorothy. They had 4000 books! There are many very beautiful books.Her husband was a prof and Dorothy and environmentalist. Nothing was thrown away. Dorothy still has her ballet dance books.(half a shelf) Another full shelf contains her husband's journals.
So I was called over to take some of her books. I was polite and took 8 books. The only thing I could do was suggest places she might take the books.
Her sense of humor...there's a new thrift shop that's opened up a block from her house.
So downsizing and getting rid of personal effects is sad. Things that have all your memories are being disposed of. The final date is less than three weeks away.
So when I phoned Dorothy , I think she was a little overwhelmed by the situation.
Her comment was, "They're not making a backup pill yet so I'll just have to keep going." I like that term but I wouldn't take a back up pill.
Most of us will have to go through this step in our lives. It's not pleasant but should and has to be done. So although I'd like some books and would like to help dorothy get rid of some books, I'm in the same boat as Dorothy. I have to get rid of stuff.
I've always filled out my own income tax returns. My income tax situation is very simple and straightforward. Yes, there are very poorly expressed sections that cause me problems. One is what they call split income pension. It's straightforward. I transfer some of my pension income to my wife. Now when the tax guys get in on writing the form it suddenly gets complicated.
they don't use the best of terms. Pension transferee??? Who's that? They do make a mess of the form. I fool them. I get it.
This year they went one too far so I have to rant.
I always have paid my income tax with a check. After I finished my tax form I noticed that I'm not allowed to pay by check anymore. They offer 4 options. I don't do online banking. Skip that one. I'm not setting up a debit account. I don't want somebody having access to my account. The only option left was to get a remittance voucher.
Now you have to order a remittance voucher online or by phone. The Micro manager tried the phone and it didn't make sense.
If I set up an account I could order the vouchers online. So I set up an account and ordered. It would take two weeks.
Now there was no notice about this change. I finished my return Mar. 27 so if the mail works I get the voucher before April 30 which is the deadline. Some people may finish their return April 25. How are they ever going to get a voucher?
So I am very angry with the tax department for not advertising that checks could not be used this year.
The micro manager called some officials and gave them the gears but they would not budge on the way things were set up.
There's a saying don't argue with the taxman. It was impossible in this case.
Spring is a time of many variations that pull us up and down. There are nice times when our spirits soar and there wild times when we are saddened once again . We are looking for spring...actually summer. We are hoping. Setbacks drive us to nuts.
So today our weather was very dull. We had heavy dark clouds but no rain or snow. Our temperature was around 5 C(40 F) all day. It was windy and looked very unpleasant. When I went out it felt much better than it looked.
A few days ago we had clear skies and 10 C (50 F). People brought out the shorts.
So spring brings a wide variation in our daily weather. A cold front is coming in tonight and we may get some drizzle and snow.
The snow has disappeared except for the dirty remains of snow banks that are in shaded areas.
The grass is brown but if you look in sunny locations you can find some new grass shoots. Our grass slowly loses its color over the winter and in the spring is brown. It takes a while for things to turn green. I have bluebells along the east side of my house. Since bluebells are early they are about 2 -3 Cm (1 in) tall.
Most days we have new birds that arrive from the south. We've seen Blue birds, Trumpeter swans, gulls and a few ducks. From now on there will be a steady stream of arrivals. I took my bird group out yesterday morning to small area and we found 13 species of birds.
I'm also running a little project called Bird Species 150 which to find 150 bird species to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. So bird reports are coming in steadily Check RDRN.ca and see what species have been reported.
And my bunny had a snooze in my back yard today and he/she is starting to turn brown. Richardson ground squirrels have come out of hibernation. The old males come out first and later on the young males and females. The old males return to hibernation in July again.
So slowly but surely spring is coming to Hiawatha House.
I've had some new visitors recently and some made comments. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House and thanks for the comments. Maybe we'll have a conversation.
Today is National Crayon day! I sometimes have to comment on some of the national days that are observed from time to time. So I'll probably have half of my readers upset with me.
Okay, I'll admit that I'm not arty at all and that colors don't play a big role in my life so when fusses are made over crayon colors I have to say ,"Give your head a shake." Every year my Mom bought me a standard 7 or 8 pack of new crayons for the start of each school year. Then one year some kid had a 12 pack of crayons. The standard pack today is 24. I think you can buy a 64 pack.
Crayola makes a big fuss when any colors are changed. This year they are ditching, oops , retiring dandelion. Dandelion has been around for a long time and a new color is going to be added. As usual a big deal and process are made to name a new color. The new color hasn't been chosen yet.
Now the adult colorers (I don't think this is a word) may have something to say about my making fun of naming crayons. Apparently coloring for adults is a great activity for adults and seniors these days. In fact, I am somewhat interested in adult coloring for a pass time.
Maybe I could color inside the lines now that I'm a senior!
However, I think this day is a very blatant advertisement for a brand of crayons. . Looking at some of the different websites it's a very smooth skillful advertising ploy.
After all, they got me to look at it!
What about you? Do crayon names impress you?
Rarely do I ever receive a package in the mail...a big fat bulky package that was coming from a real person, a relative. What could this be?
I finished high school in 1957 and left home to further my education and then I was away teaching in other areas. For the first few years I came home to the farm regularly. Gradually the visits back home became fewer and fewer with longer periods between each visit. My contact with people was limited to my brothers who stayed in the area and a few very good friends.
I married, had a family and raised them.
1957 is 60 years ago. Someone who was born after I left could be 60 years old. That means that there are few people left who I know or who have ever heard of me.
Well I ripped open the package as fast as I could . What was I receiving? My sister-in-law sent me 5 editions of the local paper. I haven't seen the local paper since 1973! She also had 4 memorial service bulletins.
Now of the 5 papers , there were 4 obituaries of people I knew. They were all in the upper 80's and 90's! I haven't found anything else in these 5 papers that I know anything about.
Now the one lady ran our country store. I bought lots of pop and candy bars from her! Good memories.
So the package reminds me of the passage of time. Two things go on. I change and my home town changes. We've both got 60 years older. I have lived a life in other areas with new and different people. It's changed me. I love my old home town and still refer to it as home, but there's no place for me in that little village.
So the package, although interesting, reminded me that our lives go on and we adapt to new people and places. These people and places are two of the many things that shape us as we pass through this world and become the people we are.
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Some time ago I wrote in great detail about a speeding ticket I got and how I was going to fight it. You wanted to know how it ended. Well, the ticket was withdrawn because of the time taken to deliver the ticket to me.
However , moving through the justice system was disappointing and challenging.
I found the justice system to be a complete gong show. People didn't know what they were doing and were reluctant to do anything when they did know. First, the prosecutor's office wasn't going to take my letter of request for disclosure. It is the prosecutors responsibility to get the disclosure organized. When I did get the disclosure package three weeks ago , I noticed there wasn't much there. When we checked 75% of what I asked for was not there. All of what the prosecutor needed was there. Was the guy inept? Did his staff not check? Did he set this up against me?
On my first appearance the prosecutor said he would phone me. He never did call back. The Micro manager finally phoned him and his reply was not helpful. Finally, a good advisor phoned the prosecutor and explained that most of the disclosure was missing. Only then was he ticket withdrawn. The prosecutor fully intended to haul me into court. Only when an ex police officer called the prosecutor as the ticket withdrawn. I don't like seeing things done by people who have clout. The issue should stand on its own merit.
If you're going to challenge a ticket, much research has to be done. It's a lot of work and very challenging.
One thing that happened is that the city quickly got digital equipment which should cut the time in half and tickets will be delivered much sooner.
I learned a few things and I think I might be on a crusade. We seem to shut our eyes and think that photo radar is infallible. It's not half as accurate as they claim. The position of the radar vehicle, distance into the speed zone, slopes, surroundings, equipment and operators all have a bearing on accuracy.
Then I started looking at signage. I've requested the city's policy on signs. So far I haven't got the policy. That makes me more suspicious and I'm going to find out how they place signs. I've seen places where there's a clutter of signs...seven in a 50 meter space. Who can read that many signs when you're driving?
So I won what I wanted ,but I think I may have found some more work for myself.
