The Winds of May

 

 

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,"  the poet William Shakespeare wrote.  While the succession of spring flowers has been beautiful, it's been a  wild and windy May, days of gray sky and cooler than normal temperatures for the season.  

And then, there was the dust storm which blanketed   downtown Chicago and surrounding areas on May 16 with a cloud of dust from dry fields in Iowa. Like the Dust Bowl days, some said. It looked apocalyptic. Day turned into night.  This kind of storm  is called a Haboob--it's an Arabic name usually referring to a powerful wind storm in the desert. 

Here is an article from Wikipedia if you want to know more about them. 

Meanwhile, wildfires in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have forced thousands of people to leave their homes.  A State of Emergency has been declared in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  The smoke from these fires is heading for the midwest---including Illinois and  Chicago area. 

While there have been tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere,  southern Illinois has seen more than their share of severe weather.  As of May 28, there have been over 1000 tornadoes in the U.S. reported for 2025!  You can read more here.

Will this be The Year of the Tornado?  Hurricane season officially starts on  June 1.  There is already a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific--Alvin.

May flower report

 Now it's May, and every day, increasing green.  

And the earth in bloom----

lilacs everywhere....

And the tulips--- white, pink, red, striped, yellow, purple. Parrot tulips, like Rembrandt painted. .  

There are azaleas and redbuds,  the watery perfume of the crabapple blossoms. 

There are buds on the peonies and irises. And any day now, lily-of-the-valley flowers.

Bleeding hearts and Solomon's Seal.  and  bluebells,

Violets and dandelions!