Another Day in Paradise: How Did it Get to be May?

Suddenly it's May, the really busy month of the year around here. The last day of school is June 5th, and the next four weeks I'll be working on special projects related to the end-of-the-year library cleanup and the graduation ceremony itself. And since everyone who works for an independent school works on a yearly contract, each May brings uncertainty and speculation about who will be returning next year and who won't. Always interesting and sometimes a bit unsettling.

Paul has his own end-of-the-year push, since flag football AND the spring drama production, for which he likes to be a "techie," are going full speed right now. He's prepping for another karate tournament tomorrow, has four nights of drama next week, and a band concert the week after. It's a bit much, though I must admit that Ben and I enjoy watching him participate in these activities.

There he is in the middle, number 25. He scored his first touchdown today, thanks partly to his team who made sure they threw him the ball. Still, he had to catch it and run!

The magnolia in the front yard had almost finished blooming by the time we had noticed it all beautiful with pink and white flowers. It reminded Ben of when we bought the tree so many years ago, when it was so small that it fit in the back of the old Toyota station wagon we had back. We bought that station wagon for $75 from a friend and paid about the same amount for the tree!

When I walked around the yard after school today I saw that the Lillies of the Valley were blooming. They always remind me of our friend Margie, who has a special liking for them and took some shoots to plant in her garden.

An unexpected pleasure of gardening is that over the years you acquire memories along with your plants. This beautiful blue Iris reminds me of my mother, and how she planted similar iris at the garden she maintained by the door of her church. I went by there the other day and weeded around those iris. I should go over this weekend and see if they are in bloom.

The white Dogwood always reminds me of the small quilt that my friend Betsy gave me which features a dogwood applique. And the vase reminds me of my mother-in-law, Suzanne, who gave it to me.

The pond was cleaned the other day and is looking great. I'm happy to say that five fish survived the winter and are starting to come up from their cave and look for food.