by | June 5, 2014 · 12:13 am

Kudos and kiitos

Lucy and I would have celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary today. Please remember how she touched our lives and how special she was to all of us.

June is a month filled with high school graduations, weddings, family get-togethers, and other celebrations. I have invitations to three high school graduation parties and a belated wedding celebration that conflicts with a graduation party. I am confident other invitations will arrive before the end of the month. Kudos to the graduates, and I wish you success and fulfillment in your lives. Congratulations to the newlyweds, and I hope you spend many happy years together. Kudos to the couples celebrating anniversaries this month, and I wish you many more years of your happily-ever-after.

Lucy knew a number of Finnish words and phrases. She taught me that kiitos is Finnish for “thank you”. The first time I heard it, I thought she said “ketone” and I gave her a very puzzled look. I was curious why she wanted a solvent after I did something nice for her. After I asked her to repeat it, I caught the correct pronunciation and had a good laugh with her. As we began our house projects, we smiled when I would point at the “methyl ethyl thank you” cans in the hardware store paint section. It is probably not a funny joke to others, but every couple has at least one inside joke, catchphrase, or nickname that makes no sense to anyone else. It got her to laugh, and that was the important thing. Her laughter brightened so many of my days and nights, and I enjoyed getting her to laugh even at my expense.

People have stories of seeing signs of a departed loved one, and that has happened to me on a surprising number of occasions since Lucy’s passing almost twenty-six months ago. This afternoon I was in the Griggs-Midway area of St. Paul dropping off medical equipment at the Goodwill/Easter Seals in the area; the donated medical equipment is then loaned to families in need. Today’s sign from Lucy was two stories tall on the side of a building: Lucy Coffee Cafe. I had no idea this place existed, and I saw it for the first time on our wedding anniversary.

Thank you to everyone who called, posted on Facebook, tweeted, texted, and emailed me today. You are keeping Lucy’s memory alive and I am grateful for that. Thank you to my buddy who did a wonderful job of cheering me up again and has been such a great friend when I have needed one. Thank you to Lucy’s sisters for being such loving and supportive people.

Give your special someone a meaningful hug when you can and tell that person kiitos from the bottom of your heart…and with clear pronunciation to prevent a trip to the hardware store.

Lucy's anniversary bouquet

Happy anniversary, baby! I will always love you.

Lucy Coffee Shop sign

My sign from Lucy on our anniversary.

Lucy Coffee Cafe

The outside of Lucy Coffee Cafe in St. Paul, MN.

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by | May 18, 2014 · 10:10 pm

“As the day gives way to the night…”

As the day gives way to night,
I miss you having by my side,
My heart is singing the song to say,
I miss you more than words can say.

— Author Unknown

The above quote is so appropriate for Lucy, especially on a warm spring night. We have a love seat glider rocker in the porch and we would sit together listening to the world winding down, watching the sunlight become twilight and seeing the solar lights around the gardens alight.

Tonight was one of those warm spring nights we have hoped for since the first frost last autumn. An irate robin seemingly complained about something for several minutes. In the distance, a small dog was incessantly yapping, probably upset at being let outside at a time when the odds of becoming coyote kibble increased significantly. Living in a city of 85,000 people does not make my backyard immune to human made noises. One of the truly annoying sounds wafting through this evening was from a small four-cylinder car (probably running on three cylinders by the sound of it) with a glass pack muffler. I believe the drive felt the noisy exhaust made the car sound mightier. To me, it sounded like a flatulent mosquito.

Even with the brief noise interruptions, the night is starting peacefully. Strong breezes have become calm, the humidity is slowly creeping up as the temperature heads in the opposite direction. Rain is predicted for tomorrow, and it should be enough to water the Wave petunias, gomphrena, double impatiens, and black and blue salvia planted late this afternoon. Black and blue salvia attracts hummingbirds, and there have been reports of ruby-throated hummingbirds spotted in the Twin Cities. I am worried the salvia may attract Miley Cyrus, but I doubt she reads this blog, and she is not in my Facebook friends list.

A peaceful night is always a welcomed way to spend an evening. Daytime summer activities like walks and bicycle rides are increasing in frequency and duration. Now that the Twins are doing somewhat better as of late, perhaps attending a game is in order. The nights are getting warmer and it is time to be with friends around a bonfire while we solve Corporate America’s problems, lament the local sports teams, discuss philosophy and spirituality, reminisce and laugh a lot.

I hope you enjoy a peaceful night wherever you are. If you are lucky to have a special someone near you, give that person a really long and meaningful hug. Here’s hoping I won’t be awakened by some caterwauling person twerking with a raccoon in my backyard. Maybe I’ll move the salvia indoors tonight.

 

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by | May 12, 2014 · 10:43 pm

May showers bring June flowers?

The precipitation falling from the sky is not frozen, and this area needs the rain. Instead of hearing about red flag warnings and the ever incessant prattling about drought, the “weathertainment” spots mention the cool and wet weather. The calendar shows it is nearing the middle of May but the weather is reminiscent of late early April.

Spring seems to be staying even if it is acting like someone returning to work after a long vacation. It is easing into the swing of things, not putting out 100% effort and taking breaks whenever possible. Eventually the weather will cooperate, or we will jump directly into summer. Perhaps summer will have its bags packed and be ready to go.

Even though the temperature is cool, the plants are trying to make up for lost time. My ostrich fern went from a lump on the ground to over two feet tall in three days; ferns have been on Earth for over 700 million years and have a number of adaptations to stay competitive in a changing ecosystem. Green replaced brown as the predominate garden color in under a week. Rebirth is moving forward at a “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” pace.

Spring cleaning is also briskly moving forward. Birds are either refurbishing, re-purposing or dismantling last year’s nests. Amur maples and some varieties of oaks do not drop their dead leaves until spring. Several days of strong winds solved that problem quickly. We two-legged animals also spring clean. A number of cities, Bloomington, MN included, hold city-wide clean up events allowing the citizenry a chance to set out large items for pick up. Several days and nights of vehicles pulling trailers brimming with scrap ensue with most cast-offs disappearing before the garbage trucks arrive. One person’s trash is another person’s recycling bonanza.

It may still be cooler than normal, but the sun is radiating more energy and the longer days have caused avian and human wardrobe changes. Goldfinches are brilliant yellow rather than a rusty tan color. Humans shed heavier clothes and dress in flashier colors. Even the creatures that do not shed fur or feathers participate in a ritual of finding a mate. Vocalizations and dances carefully choreographed to attract maximum attention occasionally irritate the humans cohabitating in the region. Of course, if the creatures viewed human behavior in a nightclub, they would be irritated, too.

Enjoy the sights and the change of seasons. Give your special someone a meaningful hug. If you’re in a committed relationship, perhaps some song and dance is in your future? Just make sure you paid your health insurance premium first.

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by | May 1, 2014 · 10:11 pm

April, we hardly knew ye

The weather in April was unusual. “April showers bring May flowers” is normally appropriate, but the first half of the month saw snow showers rather than rain showers. Colder than normal temperatures, more cloud cover than average, and more snow than average conspired to delay gardening chores by two to three weeks. April 2014 became the second wettest April since official records started in 1872. The calendar shows today as May 1 but the weather seems like March 1. However, the trend towards warmer weather starts the middle of next week, and the recent heavy rains and sloppy snow flurries eliminated soil frost with a minimum of flooding.

A two-week delay shortens the USDA Growing Zone 4 growing season by over 10%. Early spring bulbs are making up for lost time with surprising growth spurts during the few sunny and warm days available last month. Flowering shrubs are not as lucky. My forsythia bush is finally starting to bloom, three weeks late. This may mean it will not rebloom again in late September. Maple and pine tree pollen increased dramatically, but the rain helped keep the levels more tolerable to people suffering allergies. All the lilac bushes may bloom at the same time even though the normal bloom times of the three different varieties ensured continuous blooms from early April until mid July. It is still too early to tell what garden plants survived the winter, but it appears both of my prickly pear cacti may now be interesting composting material.

This area has also seen a bumper crop of potholes and orange construction barrels. Some of the potholes are deep enough to have a bumper crop of loose automobile parts and shredded tires strewn about them. A several inch deep pothole causes tire, wheel and steering component damage. When that pothole fills with water, it is well camouflaged. Another big worry is the extra moisture created more breeding grounds for mosquitoes. It has been too windy for the Mosquito Control District helicopters to drop the bacteria laced pellets that disrupts mosquito larvae development. Perhaps the cold weather delayed the hatching season accordingly.

Give your special someone a meaningful hug when you get a chance. A hug brightens up the darkest of times, and if your weather is as cold as it is here, it warms up a shivering person. To the recently departed month of April, I hope the door didn’t smack your backside too hard when you left, and try to avoid the potholes.

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by | April 19, 2014 · 3:09 pm

When pigs fly

The old adage “when pigs fly” could apply today, but for a completely different reason. Rather than indicating a nearly impossible event, it could easily describe the stuff flying through the air from this morning’s strong winds. What few leaves I raked out of  the front yard gardens are probably in Canada by now. Empty trash and recycling containers wound up in different locations and sometimes different yards. My house is well sheltered with a side hill and large trees, and I rarely see wind speeds over 15 mph on my anemometer. This morning I saw sustained winds of over 20 mph. I’m sure the unsheltered areas saw wind gusts of nearly 50 mph.  That would be fast enough to get the obnoxious pig in the GEICO commercials airborne. He might need the extra insurance to save his bacon.

My neighbor to the southwest, He Who Yells At Owls, lost two large limbs from his giant silver maple. His displeasure easily carried above the cacophony of chain saws and an industrial wood chipper courtesy of a tree service. Fortunately his house and my chain link fence emerged unscathed. His back yard has a couple of nice divots because the top two inches of ground is soft. I don’t think a standard golf divot tool will fix those holes. I lost several small branches, but none over an inch in diameter, and not enough fallen wood to use my chipper. That comes later this week when I prune the shrubbery. The branches will go on my wood pile. I have a half kitchen cord of wood that will probably last another three years at current consumption. The apple tree I must remove soon will add almost another half cord.

In the meantime, my neighbor to the east is acquiring large amounts of firewood. My guess is he has about three cords of wood split and stacked behind his shed. No doubt the city will eventually tell him to get rid of most or all of it due to ordinance violations. What is curious is their house does not have a fireplace or wood stove, though perhaps one may be installed. We are allowed recreational fires, but not on the order of the Great Chicago Fire.

The winds of change are upon us. After Nature’s unpleasant late April Fool’s joke last Monday dumped over a foot of snow on the northern metro (I was spared and only picked up ½”), the Twin Cities are getting a strong warm front howling through from the south. Three days of slightly above normal temperatures will give way to three slightly below normal days with chances of rain. At least the dreaded four-letter “s” word is not in the forecast. Easter Sunday and Monday may yield badly needed 70° temperature readings, calm to gentle breezes, and an appearance by that curious bright and warm thing in the sky.

Most Christian calendars list this Sunday as Easter. Easter is a time of hope and rebirth. I hope you get a chance to spend this time with your loved ones, that your weather is pleasant, and that you find a rebirth of joy and happiness. Thank you for remembering Lucy last week and for your kind emails and comments.

 

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