Open Thread – Spring Flowers
As I sat looking out the window this morning, something began to happen. At first it wasn’t really clear. I could have perhaps explained it away, or thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks. But, within 5 minutes it became clear that this late April morning looked more like a Christmas snow globe. Yes, it was snowing.
Fortunately the snow didn’t last long, and it did not stick, but I won’t delude myself into thinking that it couldn’t happen. A couple years ago we had a huge dump of snow on May 1. So, instead of getting angry at the weather gods, or running outside and yelling at the sky, I prefer the ol’ Freudian defense mechanism of denial. Hence today’s open thread photo.
This was taken not in Alaska, but in San Francisco a few weeks ago. I’ve had it on my phone and use it when necessary for medicinal purposes. It makes the rods and cones in my eyes happy. And so, I thought to myself, why am I hogging all this springiness in my phone? So, here it is.
And here in the mountains, there’s only a few more weeks until spring!
Such a pretty picture to look at when you need it, AKM. I have this site bookmarked so I can go there and have an ahhhhhh moment when I need it – http://www.tulipfestival.org/galleries/gallery/test_gallery
As for the snow, heard on the radio yesterday that there will probably be skiing at Crystal Mtn (WA state) till late July. W-O-W
My sister-in-law in Phoenix said she got a phone call recently asking her if she would vote for Sarah Palin for Senator.
My sister-in-law in Phoenix said she got a phone call asking her if she would vote for Sarah Palin for Senator.
Only one more month until the Palin e-mails are released ! bhahahahahahaha!!!!
In our local paper today—-
Levi Johnston to pen tell-all book: ‘Deer in the Headlights: My Life in sarah Palin’s Crosshairs’
He says he’s doing it for ‘for me, for my boy Tripp and the country”
This should be a “winner” ?
I’m not seeing much of a future for little Tripp. It just don’t look promising.
Gorgeous photograph, Jeanne. I just came in from planting some petunias and impatients in pots for the patio and planting those Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds. I just adore seeing that color all summer long. Hope your area warms up enough to allow planting soon.
I miss the snow. But I am absolutely compelled to tell all of you that the tomato plants I planted last month have tomatoes on them. The largest is about 2 inches across. Have you ever heard anything more depressing? 🙂
No.
Braggart!!
GGGGRRRRR!!!!!!!! ( but in a nice way !! ) chortle… I’ll catch up with you, if I can keep the dang deer outta the garden area this year !!! The thought of venison jerky is crossing my mind again,,,hhhmmm how fast can I do it so the wife and daughters don’t catch on …..
“Oklahoma GOP Lawmaker Sally Kern: ‘Blacks’ Don’t Work As Hard As White People”
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/28/sally-kern-blacks-dont-work-hard/
snip “Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, said minorities earn less than white people because they don’t work as hard and have less initiative.
“We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school? I’ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”
Kern said women earn less than men because “they tend to spend more time at home with their families.”” Snip…….
To all who think like Rep. Kern I offer: “The Myth of Race (part 1)”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfAusgIc1G8&feature=player_embedded
“When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken, or cease to be honest.” ~ unknown
Well. It’s obvious from this that Oklahomans of color and Oklahomans of the wrong gender are getting excellent representation at the national level.
Good golly Miss Molly! Who elects these people! Is he from a district that is made up solely of WASP males?
I’ll tell you one thing. That WASP male known as Mr. Dozen does NOT lay any of that freshly manufactured cow pie around this house. That is one reason there IS a Mr. Dozen.
As famous minority possum used to say, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” If women didn’t put up with such offal icons, they would have ceased to exist by now.
This guy could singled handedly clog up the New York City sewer system from overload.
Rep. Sally Kern is Republican, so racism not surprising. Now she’s adding sexism. Cute.
Anyone in Oklahoma listening? Hello, hello – Sally needs to go.
Never woulda guessed that Oklahoman was a rethuglican. Not in a million years,I tell ya.
Yeah, I know OK has been blood red for a long time, but really, there have to be some sane folks there. I know there are still few left in KS – and that’s amazing in and of itself. We have secret signals and rejoice when we see liberal bumper stickers (of which I have many and even Republicans come over and say “wow, I never thought I would agree with that sentiment, but honey, I’m there. Good for you.” So, I still have hope for OK if weirdo far-right KS has some lively progressives and moderates left here in the NE corner.
I LOVE blue sunflowers B-)
I heard there is a new bunch of whacko’s called the after-birthers and they are demanding Obama show a placenta.
Jeez. That even made my ear hairs hurt!.
I am a Diploma-er and proud of it. Long form, Sarah. Long form. Degree, transcripts, list of awards and academic probations and pity grades.
That could very well be a problem.
I believe that the college professors and administrators in the fifteen or so academic institutions who were complicit in granting her college credits and, ultimately, a degree, have fled their respective posts in shame and are trying to join the witness protection program. I hear there was great wailing, rending of garments and gnashing of teeth as they realized what they had bestowed upon the world.
Even the colleges themselves have changed their names, stealthily relocated their campuses under cover of darkness and left no forwarding addresses.
Obtaining documentation of the Bachelorette’s of Journalistic Huffenpuff she received may be well nigh impossible.
Just send it two boxtops, 50 cents, and your baptismal form from a Fundie mega church to Oral Consumption U. and they’ll send you a gen-u-ine Dee-plo-mah in enemy subject you want, as long as it has Christian in it–Christian Journalism, Christian Football, Christian ROTC, Christian Comparative Religions, Christian Women’s and Ethnic Studies. Everything except Christian Science! An oxymoron to them if there ever was one! 🙂
I actually read about the A-Bers on the internet this morning. What a bunch of sick-puppies.
I didn’t know this existed but it’s good to know: The Palin meter:
http://www.slate.com/id/2292389/
Thanks for the link. I loved the part which read ” . . .it almost looks as if she’s angling for the bottom half of the ticket again. (She does have a penchant for short-lived gigs, after all.)”
After all, The Donald is old. As his VP, she might figure she has a chance to slip into the first chair after a short time.
Not that it is even remotely possible that either of them would get into the WH, but . . . .
What beautiful flowers! I’m enjoying some lovely glads in shades of purple that daughter and son-in-law brought on Easter. At least it feels springy inside the house. It’s still cold outside. It keeps snowing in the mountains and there was talk that the snow level might drop below 2000 feet. Good grief! It’s the end of April!
I can’t believe the tornado damage. I lived in Kansas till we moved to Washington, and I went through my fair share of tornadoes and tornado watches, warnings, alerts. But nothing like that.
Good morning, all. I was MIA yesterday–a bout of food poisoning. I’m recovered, and love the spring flowers from SF. I’ve got them live and in person here in NYC. The daffodils are fading, the tulips are blooming. Many trees are in bloom, and on certain blocks, white blossoms are falling into snowdrifts.
Good commentary by Krugman:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/opinion/22krugman.html?_r=1&WT.mc_id=NYT-E-I-NYT-E-AT-0427-L16%00%00%00%00%00
Yep. I have to agree that in the matter of my health I do not like the ‘consumer’ label.
Oh thank you for showing some great spring ‘color’!!! Flowers, except for a few almost hidden ones, are months away here.
Oh how I miss the spring bulbs, and early flowers that show up near Mother’s Day.
Hopefully this year will also for a few patches of annuals and maybe some herbs that can then come in for the winter will get planted this year. (Am hoping to get some sunflowers going…as we are forcasted for a warmer and drier summer than normal)
Speaking of state government leaking to Anchorage:
http://juneauempire.com/state/2011-04-27/house-finance-committee-hold-hearing-anchorage
Poor widdle reps, the media isn’t crowning them with halos. So off to Sully’s Anchorage for a group wank.
FYI- our local Dept. of Natural Resources has shut off well water to local campground campers because nitrate levels are too high for human consumption. Campers will be required to bring potable water with them. Prices for overnight camping have been reduced. Ours is a fairly small county park and gets a good bit of use all summer and fall. I’m glad the DNR is on top of the nitrates. We can’t have blue babies running around. Bad for our image.
If some of these RWNJs get their way, you won’t HAVE a Dept. of Natural Resources to monitor environmental safety and make sound decisions about your resources.
‘Cause, dang, those pesky greenies are makin’ it rill hard to collect an even more obscene profit from the businesses that pump untold amounts of toxins into the environment. After all, they NEED those profits to buy that new island in the Caribbean and that new Mercedes. Too bad, so sad about those silly little blue babies, but, hey, they can’t vote so why should we worry about them anyway? And since we’re all gonna be rapturized rill soon from the sacred ground in the Home Depot parking lot in Wasilla, who cares if we destroy the environment?
This could get interesting- Col. George “Bud” Day,the Nations most decorated war veteran and native of Sioux City,Iowa will be speaking at Briar Cliff College on May 6th. He will talk about his service and his time as a P.O.W. He is also deeply vetted in Swiftboat Veterans for Truth and a staunch supporter of Sen John McCain and Nutjob Cong. Steve King of Iowa. He has actively campaigned for both men in the past. Northwest Iowa isn’t immune from political realities.
Why, thanks for sharing, AKM. Now my little corner will be more colourful, at least for today. Hopefully I’ll be able to talk Merrycricket into planting a few of my own if I promise to do the tilling myself – under guidance, of course. There is not a trace of green anywhere near my thumb, and I’m not complaining! 🙂
It’s going to be warmer in Anchorage and Fairbanks today than here in northwest lower Michigan, at least according to the weather page in our newspaper. Our snow from Tuesday before last is all gone, washed away by days and days of rain.
One of those tornadoes hit about 5 miles from me in Mountain City GA. Lot of trees down, and it must be pretty bad, because Search & Rescue are doing house-to-house searches. North end of the county has no power, schools are closed.
I disconnected everything before I went to bed, woke up when I saw some lightening, but rolled over and went back to sleep. We still have quite a bit of wind, but you should see the sky – the bluest blue you can imagine and not a cloud to be seen.
We had severe storm warnings all day and quite a bit of rain, luckily the worst went north and south of my little.patch. I figured out yesterday the the universe, mother nature or whoever, wasn’t going to make the rain stop so I could go out and play until I cleaned my room. 🙂 so that’s what I did. Windy and much cooler today but we have sun! More tomorrow too also. Gonna finally get the rest of my garden tilled and maybe the new neighbor’s as well.
Hi Merrycricket,
If I till my garden, will you plant the flowers? I know you’ve been busy working over the weekend, so my plan is to help by doing my own tilling. The perennials in my version of a garden don’t like me, and I don’t have the skill or inclination to worry about annuals. However, I know you love gardening, so I’m generously giving you more space to do what you love. 😉 [Does the argument work?]
Have a good day!
I would LOVE to so that!
🙂 You’re on!
Makes me wonder how there could be a real god if he/she can destroy life one minute and then leave a person in awe of the natural beauty the next. Please stay safe,every one of you.
Natural beauty comes in many forms. One of them is destructive power. The sea is not always calm, it can kill you, but it is always beautiful.
There ain’t a sea man enuf to get Mikey. I ain’t getting any closer than about 3 or 4 time zones to any large body of water.
If I may quote the great George Costanza:
The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to return soup at a deli! I got about fifty-feet out and then suddenly the great beast appeared before me. I tell ya he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence he gave out a big bellow. I said, “Easy big fella!”
Temps are still running low here for spring but I have seen fireweed and lupine poking first lil selves out of the ground at sea level here
While avalanches and melt have re-established waterfalls where months of icefall adorned the mountainsides.
Here’s another place to have a visual feast
http://www.wildthingsphotography.com/
I’m looking at the wildflower portfolio this morning but think of AKM everytime I look at the Tongass portfolios… 🙂
How cool is that,they grow flowers with clear plastic around them. What will they think of next? Progress is good,I guess. Whatever became of square watermelons from a fewe years back? You know,the ones that were supposed to fit in your fridge without rolling around.
Monsanto is still working on that….
Yep. They’ve decided developing a circular fridge is easier.
*Rods and cones joining the happy dance*
Still plenty windy, overcast and cooler (near 60) this morning, but the rain appears to be skirting north of the forest. Maybe we’ll get a “scattered shower” before this system blows on through today.
Plenty of indoor chores and distractions in the meantime.
Hey, I “slept in” until 6:30 this morning. 🙂
Thanks for the flowers, AKM.
Sorry ’bout the snow. 😉
If you have more rods than cones,you should be able to see in lower light conditions which means all the pretty colors would be gone and that would literally suck.
Oh dear, I just heard about the terrible storms in the south last night. It appears to have been devastating.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/severe-storms-continue-to-rip-through-the-south_n_854693.html
Stunning images.
Stay safe, folks, and take good care of yourselves, eh?
Good morning. The sun is shining here in Ireland and it is a glorious spring day.
Sorry ’bout the snow, AKM. 😉
Is that the same sun that shines in Iowa?
No, we have our own separate sun, just for us. We got it when the dinosaurs died 6,000 years ago. 🙂
🙂 🙂
that’s funny!
I have decided to embrace the GOP’s version of events. AKM, am I allowed to say “Sweet Jesus.” Anyone travelling needs to watch the corners of the earth, there is a severe decline.