I’ve been following the weather in Oklahoma because I have family there and they have it a whole lot worse than we do here in southern Indiana. We just have rain… and some more rain…
No cars floating down the road or uprooted trees so far. Just grass growing faster than can be kept mowed and lots of pretty flowers. I even have a few that are still alive myself.
But my thumb isn’t nearly as green as my good friend, Alisa’s. She brightens the newsfeed of all her Facebook friends with a gorgeous flower photo almost every day…
I don’t remember who shared those words of wisdom, but through the years I’ve found the advice to be sound for southern Indiana. The Derby this year is May 4th… two weeks from today. No snow here right now, but others that are not so very far from me have a slight ground covering.
It’s cold; it’s windy; and it’s raining. One of the chairs on our front porch was blown around at some point during the night, ending its travels on the sidewalk. Brrrrr! Where did you go, Spring?
And to think, I almost ignored the “Derby Rule” and planted flowers this week… when it was sunny and nearly 80°.
Even this little guy is probably cold! He’s all humped-up with wet fur gnawing on one of the last nuts leftover from winter, likely also wondering what happened to spring:
Sending Perry a text via Siri on my phone, my sentence began, “Oh, well…” To that, Siri automatically provided the emoji I should use… it was a whale, you guys. 🐳 Sadly, saying out loud, “oh, whale” is truly the exaggerated, southern version. That would be me… at least to Siri.
But I can honestly say I never EVER considered adding a cat door through an existing wall of a house. The gal that purchased my long-time home in the Ville can’t say the same.
I’m pretty sure she’s not lived in a rural area before and sincerely hope the other side of the kitty door install she shared on Facebook is in a closet with a closed door. The first o’possum that strolls in there to eat cat food may have her partner looking for a way to put that wall back like it was.
When your back yard is either corn or soy beans, you expect critters (especially mice) and plug every single teeny tiny opening that might allow them access to your home. In addition, I remember hearing packs of coyotes howl at night — so much so that we were careful with our dogs outside after dark. Can a coyote fit through there?
I spent the first several decades of my life living in a rural area. The actual yard that required grass be cut was over an acre. Then there was a ditch. A deep ditch.
This ditch was dry for a good bit of the summer, but in the spring the stinky, stagnant water was great for growing weeds with stalks big as my little finger in diameter. Spray with weed killer, weed eat, sling that stinky crap back up on your legs — and once dry spray with accelerant and light that baby up. Great fun.
In the country, you aren’t judged by a manicured lawn. You mow once a week typically and that’s good enough. And you never, ever rake. Not so when you live in a neighborhood. Our neighbors had already mowed a couple times before I did the first big clean-up mow of the season yesterday.
By the time I raked old leaves and sticks, (like 100 lawn-sized bags full), mowed everything with the push mower (wanted the rider checked out before I took off on it after the winter), and trimmed around everything including the driveway and in front of the house… I simply thought I’d die. It about killed me, you guys.
That thing about taking the girl from the country but not the country from the girl? Believe it.
The basketball team from my hometown of Crothersville competed in the boys sectional contest last night — just as they have since 1914. The Crothersville Tigers had never won… and they still haven’t. They remain one of only two teams in the state of Indiana that have never taken home the title.
The Tigers lost by 12 to the West Washington Senators and were runners-up once again. This loss was especially difficult since they beat the Senators by double digits in regular season play. Defeat is never easy — and losing doesn’t get easier no matter how many times you experience it.
I may live in Seymour and root for the Owls in sporting events, but I’m still a Tiger at heart. Here’s looking forward to next year!
And here’s looking forward to spring, too! How about this for a view in early March?
