Under the same sun

 

 

Remember the eclipse in April, the auroras a weekend ago? These have been once-in-a-lifetime experiences  in this most beautiful spring.

Almost full moon again.  Days of rain and sun.  The  irises are blooming now---and peonies! 

It may be "no mow May"  but  I can hear a  power mowers down the street. Yes, the grass is growing so fast, and so are the milkweeds. It seems to me there are more wildflower gardens and prairie gardens this year.   And vegetable gardens, too. 

Now is the time for planting.  So many varieties of peppers and tomatoes!  Eggplants, beans, zucchini....You can find them at plant centers, hardware stores. The Jewel has them too, along with hanging baskets of begonias. 

People feel an urgency to  be outside.  For some, this means working in the dirt, to feel warm earth in  their hands.

Maybe this happens every year about this time. but this year, there are 17-year cicadas emerging, too.  We have been waiting for them, here in Oak Park. I saw the first shells yesterday. Today, Sunday, I saw some in flight! 

I felt  graced by a creature that knows the warming ground, the feel of the trees, the urgency of life.  There is something ancient, primordial about them.  For a moment,  we share the same air, under the same sun.

Crossing into May

 

 Now come lovely May days.  Every day, more green.

Time for planning and planting.  Garden centers are busy.  Native plants are gaining in popularity-- milkweeds are part of butterfly gardens and meadow gardens.   

Take the time to admire the blooming trees and flowers, now---bluebells and Solomon Seal, violets and dandelions, the tiny bell-shaped flowers of the lily-of the valley, a  gift of luck on the first of May.  There are lilacs and the red bud trees, The arching branches of white flowers of spirea, sometimes called  bridal veil or meadow sweet. The buds of the  peonies will be blooming  at the end of May.

There are still colorful tulips, too. did you know there are early, mid-season, and late blooming varieties? Did you know the striped tulips are called Rembrandt tulips after the artist who pained them? 

We are a little over over halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.  We have over 14 hours of daylight, now. According to the Wheel of the Year, May 1 is a cross- quarter day,  the beginning of summer and the growing season. 

On May 7,  there will be a new moon again, after the new moon and solar eclipse on April 8. The sun and moon move on.  Every day now is increasing daylight until the summer solstice.

And soon, there will be the emergence of cicadas,  No,  they don't bite or sting.  But  they have come to share this spring with us.  They too will have their time in the sun.