SUSAN SAYS Springtime wanderlust

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

“April in the country - the grass is green, the birds are rejoicing in the flowering shrubs and the sky is sapphire blue ... It is when we open the doors and windows of our homes to let in the sounds and fragrances of spring. Now is the time we open our hearts to all the promise of another season.” That’s how writer Jo Northrop described this month 25 years ago in her column Spring Wanderlust.

“No matter where our wanderlust takes us in April, the country will reward us,” she wrote. “Subtle as well as flamboyant, April touches the land and it is ours to enjoy.”

Northrop’s description is just as true today. Spring in the Ozarks is indeed a beautiful time, a time to revel in every sunny day. I’m sure there will be another cold snap or two,with chilly nights and frosty morns, but April weather is generally pretty nice. Our garden is doing well so far. The cabbage and related plants have endured the cold well and onion shoots and potatoes have begun to emerge. The strawberries are thriving in the shelter of the shop wall.

We visited the home improvement store a little over a week ago and I purchased some lovely red and yellow tulips. I put them in a planter box the next day butleft them on the back porch for a few more days as the weather forecast was not too encouraging. On Saturday, Jim mowed the yard and I moved our indoor potted plants out onto the front porch and placed the tulips under our outdoor arch. Sunday some of our March winds lingered into April, blew several petals off the tulips and overturned a plant on the front porch, but the temperature climbed into the upper 70s and the day would have been rather pleasant without the wind.

As the weather warms up, the fish in our pond have become more active. We bought a new hummingbird feeder made from a pretty crimson bottle, and a new bird feeder, and Jim hung them from the corners of the patio enclosure. We’re preparing our yard for some outdoor living during the coming warm weather and have placed a new bench south of the house. (We picked it up last week at a local business where we admired the decorative design on the back, a scene with pine trees, a mother bear and two cubs). From there we can sit and see the garden and the flower bed beside the cellar where the early purple iris are now displaying large buds.

We’ve watched for the mail carrier with great anticipation the last fewweeks. Jim ordered several books from the Mystery Guild when the cold weather kept us indoors. And since the shipment arrived, he has enjoyed his selections. Recently we received some seeds we’d ordered from a garden catalog and we’re waiting for the current stormy spell to pass through so we can plant them. There’s a mixture of radishes, some Detroit Dark Red beets and Bright Lights Swiss chard and, for later, Contender green beans and a trio of scalloped squash.

Aunt Merle’s caregiver brought her over on Friday, March 25, and we enjoyed a brief visit before they returned to Tulsa. My youngest sister was in town last week and dropped by Monday and Tuesday. She left early Friday to attend a wedding in Nebraska over the weekend. Our brother Richard visited early Thursday morning and brought us some supplies for Mama.

There are some spring visitors who are not quite so welcome. Jim went to get gas for the tiller over the weekend and when he returned a long black snake was slithering across from the garden to the yard. He crawled through the flower bed beside the cellar and then went up the old walnut tree and into a hole out on one of the limbs. I know black snakes are good snakes and eat a lot of mice but I’d prefer they do their hunting a little farther from the house!

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 04/06/2011