What a Beautiful Spring!

I can't remember a more beautiful spring than we're having right now, can you? Day after day of lovely weather with blue skies and low humidity! I know we are way behind on rainfall, but the weather sure is nice.

Our garden is looking much more like a garden should with the potato and tomato plants growing well. I finally got all the tomato cages up for the plants to grow on. I make them out of concrete reinforcing wire.

The garlic has been sending up seed stalks which I have been breaking off in the hopes it will spur bulb growth. We can barely keep up with the asparagus shoots, and the turnips and mustard greens are taking over. I have purple hull peas planted, and Linda planted some bush string beans yesterday.

Our new rabbit, Hazel, is happily ensconced in his cage over one of the raised beds. I have already used some of his manure on the tomato plants. Hazel has a winning personality that simply fascinates the grandchildren. They love to come over and hold him or pick clover to feed him through the wire. He loves clover and vetch and, especially, carrots.

Our granddaughters, Laila and Jaime, enjoy playing with the goats. The girls get in the pasture with them and, together, girls and goats go running up and down the hill. They run up to the mulberry tree and, again, girls and goats climb in the tree together. It is amusing to watch them running back down the hill and then to see the sheep come following behind at a safe distance. Sometimes when the girls are trying to get into the pasture through the gate, one or both of the goats will get out, but they are easy to get back in again because they will follow you anywhere. They are not trying to get out as much as they are trying to get to the children in order to play with them, or in the hopes they will get some feed or something special to eat. The goats love asparagus, as I found out recently when I offered them some fresh stalks. They gobbled them up and "baaa-ed" for more.

Sometimes, when you are trying to pet the goats, they will nip your fingers. You have to pay attention to what you are doing or they will bite you rather sharply. They seem to enjoy nibbling on my jeans.

Linda and I have a boxer named Abbie. Abbie is a wonderful dog. The other day, Abbie had nine little puppies. Six of them survived. We think the father is a black lab. So if you are in the market for a boxer/lab mix, feel free to contact us. We will be looking for good homes for these rare, safe and legal (a Bill Clinton term) cross-breeds. I am sure they will not last long since they are some of the prettiest little puppies I have seen in a long while. Abbie loves children, so I am thinking these puppies will make good pets for those homes with little ones.

Back to the beautiful spring, I was just checking my weather app and noticed that north Louisiana, where I grew up, has had over 40 inches of rain this year while we have only had about 8 1/2 inches. They have had major flooding down there this spring and are ready for a break. I keep in touch with my siblings and they report a lot of damage due to flooding to roads and homes in the north central area of Louisiana.

If things don't change here, I fear we are headed for a dry summer. At least, I'm thinking it could be hot and dry. It seems I heard that was the long-term forecast for northwest Arkansas for this summer. I can sure tell it in the garden, which is much drier than normal for this time of year. It really isn't a problem with the raised beds, but I could end up watering more this summer. I guess time will tell.

All I can say for sure is that the weather has been especially nice so far. Last Sunday, Linda and I took a drive down to Tahlequah, Okla. We didn't know it, but they were having their annual Red Fern Festival. The festival is based on the book and movie, "Where the Red Fern Grows," which is set in Oklahoma and was filmed on location. That book was one of my children's favorites when they were growing up. Woodrow Wilson Rawls was the author. Rawls was born in Scraper, Okla., in 1913. His mother home-schooled her children. After Rawls read some Jack London stories about dogs, he decided to become a writer. Rawls also wrote, "Summer of the Monkeys," which is an hilarious account of a young boy and his grandpa trying to capture some escaped circus monkeys for the reward money. I highly recommend both books.

Tahlequah's entire downtown area was cordoned off and there were a number of vendors with their wares on display. The afternoon was lovely and we really enjoyed strolling the sidewalks and checking out all the crafts. Sad to say, we had stopped in Siloam Springs for lunch on our way down to Tahlequah. Once we arrived in Tahlequah, I was sorry we had already eaten since Sam and Ella's Chicken Palace has some of the best pizza in all of Oklahoma. You don't want to miss eating there if you are ever in downtown Tahlequah.

It is a scenic drive down from Siloam to Tahlequah. We drove out on old 68 to little Kansas, then headed south on highway 10. On the way home, we came up north on Oklahoma 59 through Westville and Watts. Overall, it was a lovely outing on another beautiful spring day.

Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.