Isn't it amazing how Mother Nature can slip one up on us? The recent example of her action during the middle of February is proof that we can't fool her even if we sometimes think we can.
Who would have thought there would be snow on the ground on Valentine's Day? No planting of lettuce seeds on that day no matter that it was the old timer's habit. Do you remember when lettuce planting was the first gardening event of the year? I'd bet that quarter some old-timers remember those days. The plot was ready, wasn't it? It had been prepared by a guy who came with a horse, a plow and a harrow and everything was ready to go (make that grow). Plant that lettuce.
Gardening then wasn't affected by what we now call ... what was it called? Oh, yeah. It's called climate change. But the climate has always been changing; that was called seasonal. There were usually a couple of snows every winter, not three or four winters without them, but how about a couple of big ice storms? ... and there were always robins returning ... whoa, wasn't the prediction they would arrive the first week in March?
Our backyard was alive with the red-breasted birds during the last week of February. Only for about a half-hour. Did they fly back south to Decatur? Guess we'll just call them early birds. They must have brought with them the first yellow crocus blossoms which appeared the day after the snow melted and, by the time you read this, those yellow jonquils will be nodding their heads in the warming sun. They are here today, the fourth of March.
Let's back up a bit. After those zero days, wasn't that 75-degree temp a week later nice? Just like a mom who always seems to have some nice surprises. But back to gardening. I'd bet a quarter that gardening is starting to boil in lots of folks' blood. What are some of the early activities besides lettuce? How about cabbage or broccoli, or how about peas? They always went into the beckoning soil early and by St. Pat's Day when ... what was that which was always planted? Yep, good old Irish potatoes or red ones; I can't remember what they were called. That was the St. Pat's Day job, planting potatoes, along with the wearing of the green so you wouldn't get pinched. Wouldn't that get you in trouble in today's world? By tater planting time, it was good to see that bed of lettuce so green you couldn't see the dirt. But no worry, there were always a few stragglers to provide lots of lettuce for wilting. And the peas were always beginning to pop up their heads toward the sun.
And speaking of the sun, have you noticed how far north Old Sol has moved during the past several days? While sitting at the counter in the kitchen looking out the window to the west, enjoying supper (we still call it supper), there he was throwing blinding rays through the window. Bright? You said it. He's on a fast trip north, heading to Alaska where those folk can enjoy midnight sunbeams, etc. By the time you read this, he will have passed out of our window sight and the curtain can be opened. No more eye squinting until he heads south again sometime this fall. It's seasonal, ain't it? Not climate change. But there are often unexpected climate changes, however they occur.
Yep, would you believe that Sunday, just a few days from now, it'll be time to turn those clocks forward an hour – hooray? daylight saving time? It even happens before spring, which begins Saturday the 20th, and we'll begin to enjoy those always warm days until ... yep, until they reach the century mark and ... you know the rest. Wouldn't it be nice to blame the mess that's going on in our nation on clock changing? There needs to be a lot of changing going on to get our country back on track, don't you think?
Let's play a little game. Just for the fun of it, have you noticed two words that are very popularly used when the self-appointed experts on the tube are asked a question, such as, "Have you heard old so-and-so has done such-and-such?" or "Did you agree that old so-and-so was wrong or lied about so-and-so?" Any guesses? Do you ever hear the answer for the first question should be either yes or no? The voice that springs forward usually causes the head to nod, accompanied by the word, "Yeah!" and then how about the answer to that second question? The word almost jumps through the tube into the living room with a positive word, "Absolutely," and continues with a spiel that becomes a news report instead of an opinion that it is. Sadly, it's fun to watch the use of those two words, "Yeah" and "absolutely." Where have all the yeses and nos gone?
Don't you sometimes think it is scary, or even sad, how the culture of our nation is evolving to building burning, violent actions and lots of dangerous things from protests and whatever else they are called ... rather than peaceful gatherings and petitioning that are the humanely constitutional way to seek changes. Something has to give; invading our Capitol is so far out in ??? field it deserves no attention except stopping this unacceptable procedure.
What a wander away from gardening! But aren't both important in that what we sow is what we'll harvest as a gardener or a nation? Maybe a good response from that which we refer to as Mother Nature is or will get things back on course. Perhaps the heavy snow that clouds the air and the frigid actions are the result of too much "Meeooism" (remember that word?), particularly among those in the place and who hold our future in their minds and hands. How's that for another word which is like another virus ... Just like a garden is being ruined by a bunch of crabgrass and poison weeds. Meeooists.
Dodie Evans is the former owner and long-time editor of The Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.