Coincidence?

A day without rain has been a rare occurrence here since April 27th and you can imagine the “lift” everyone felt yesterday (Mother’s Day) when the sky cleared, the sun came out, and the air warmed up to a more reasonable and normal temperature.  It was a perfect day (except for the strong breeze, but no one complained about that after all the rain of previous days).  It was the first time that I was able to enjoy my morning coffee out on the deck since returning from our road trip on April 26th.  The deck has become a very special place for me in these last few years (not quite as special as my study and the new recliner, or being “On the Road Again,” but almost).

The lawn had been mowed on Saturday (even though the grass was extremely wet) so I didn’t have to fret about accomplishing that chore.  The weeds, too, had been pulled out of the muddy ground the day before, so I didn’t have to think about that task either (though I did think about the weeds needing to be pulled in the front yard and the need to get the Dahlia tubers planted as soon as the ground dried up a bit).  So I just sat there on the deck, enjoying the singing of the birds, the dance of the squirrels, the blooming Azaleas, Bleeding Heart and Rhododendron, the rich green of the spring grass, the budding Irises, and the hardy and colorful Hosta that I have planted everywhere (Hosta is a low maintenance perennial).

As I gazed in wonder at all of this, I looked at the Iris plants along the side of the garage (the sunniest area) and there beheld the first Iris bloom of the season.  All the Iris plants in the back yard are my mother’s plants—transported from New Jersey to Maryland nearly 36 years ago.  What a coincidence on Mother’s Day!