Sunday, March 20, 2011

happy vernal equinox! + spring bug sighting

it’s funny, i find myself in the same exact spot i was last year: sitting in front of my computer, procrastinating rather than writing the two articles i have due today. equinox and solstice days always coincide with due dates.

i’m starting a regular job on wednesday. my mom hired me as sort of an office assistant at the literary center--it’s the same thing i’ve done before for a couple weeks at a time. i really enjoy it--it’s fun, creative, well-paid, i love my coworkers and the location and the organization, and it’s the least stressful job i’ve had, but of course i’m bummed about giving up large chunks of my free time every week. i’ve been quasi-self-employed for way too long.

my cape gooseberry plant bloomed the other day, and now a tiny berry is swelling inside the husk. three more buds are getting ready to open.


it seems like spring is a little farther behind, at least as far as plants and blooms, compared to last year. i haven’t seen any tulips, daffodils or magnolia flowers when at this point last year i had. one thing that’s earlier is the spring bug--a beetle larva (i think?) that i see every year during spring that seems to signal the end of the worst winter weather. last year i didn’t see one until april 21, but this year i saw one on march 15 and a second one on march 17. as always it evaded having its picture taken, except for a blurry cell phone shot of the second one.

other creatures are coming out early, too: i spotted the first ladybug on the 3rd, first honeybee on the 12th, and yesterday on a walk andy pointed out a garter snake already emerged from hibernation.

2 comments:

Goneferalinidaho said...

Go Andy! If Sadie found a garter, it'd probobly be hanging out of her mouth in about 2 seconds. Happy spring to you and yours!

Emily said...

haha thanks! yeah, andy wanted to catch the snake, i stopped him...he did catch one once, grasped it everso lightly by the tail and gently dragged it backwards to bring to me. i made him drop it immediately of course. but it was so adorable how careful he was not to harm it.