"Perhaps the earth can teach us..."

Perhaps the earth can teach us

As when everything seems dead

And later proves to be alive

—Pablo Neruda

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Happy April!

I've got friends near and far

I've got springtime in a Mason jar!

I've got hope, I've got love

I've got everything I could dream of

I've got faith, strong and true

I've got springtime in a jar for you!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

March Snow

daffodils in a jar  

March brings snow — kids spring

outside

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Fall's Garden (poem)

Springtime is lovely, so they claim

I dare not strip it off its fame

Of earth’s awakener, yet I

Have grown to find Spring rather tame

Each year it urges me to try

To turn back clocks and be the shy

And silly child I used to know

Oh no, the apple of my eye

Aren’t you, sweet Spring, and long ago

My childhood like a timid doe 

Ran hiding in the falling dusk

Away from me, its biggest foe

No, I’ll stay here until I must

Go with the changing leaves I trust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

prompted by dVerse

Spring into Action: Planting Bulbs in Autumn

The daffodil, tulip and hyacinth bulbs are sleeping in the shed under the sand blanket. Cannot wait to plant them, but here in Maryland, especially with the record high temperatures we've been having, it's still too early...Not ready yet.

Are you ready? Once the temperature drops to below 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the soil, it's safe to plant your spring flowering bulbs.

Bulb planting isn't rocket science, but there's a few tricks to it.

Watch this short video to see if, for instance, you know:

• what flowering bulbs love
• why you shouldn't treat them as "little soldiers"
• how to protect them from chipmunks, squirrels, etc.

I found the layering technique particularly interesting, and will definitely try it myself.

Happy bulb planting!


Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"No mortal is alert enough..."

"No mortal is alert enough to be present at the first dawn of the spring--but he will presently discover some evidence that vegetation had awaked some days at least before,"

Henry David Thoreau wrote on March 17, 1857.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

A Bit of a Fairy-tale: First Crocuses

crocuses spring from the earth
steadfast tin soldiers
be still

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Poetic Asides Poem-A-Day April Challenge Day 7: Love/Anti-Love poem

Longing

I built a small rock garden next to the stone patio, just steps away

from the old kitchen with its nineteen thirties

cabinets that have doors that wouldn’t close refusing to keep

their ghosts locked; I didn’t go far searching, I used the stones

that lay in the backyard, most of them flat –

parts of what once was a perfect border – now buried

underneath the overgrown lawn, when scraped clean their gray

 showed the sparkle in it; the rest –  that

I would like to think were left behind when the frozen

waters retreated melting some years before my time – formed

the crescent-shaped foundation upon which

 I piled the flat ones, building what resembled an Irish wall of sorts,

my small rock garden becoming more of a raised bed, a vessel to be

filled with fresh dirt, parsley and dill seeds

when spring comes after the long wait; on top of the wall

I put two stones with words imprinted on them, the kind they sell

at nurseries, a gift,  “hope” read the one,

the other “joy”, I seem to have misplaced the third one –

“love”.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer ("Happy")

written for Poetic Asides